Small country participation the EU research programmes

Abstract

Research, innovation and education constitute the Knowledge Triangle and are the three central and strongly interdependent drivers of the knowledge economy (European Commission, ERA, 2012). The EU’s Framework Programme is the main instrument for funding research and for implementing the EU’s research and innovation policy agenda. This paper examines Malta’s participation in the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and compares the performance with other small Member States, namely Cyprus, Estonia, Luxembourg and Slovenia, within the context of previous Framework Programmes. The performance of Small States has also been benchmarked with the performance of larger Member States to identify success factors and any barriers which could hinder successful participation of Small States.