About

EUREKA is a European intergovernmental initiative in which Bosnia and Herzegovina actively participates as a full member from June 2021. In the previous period, from 2009, it had the status of State contact point. In addition to 43 full members (27 EU countries, North Macedonia, Iceland, Israel, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Russia, San Marino, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina), the EUREKA initiative also includes: South Korea as a partner country and Argentina, Canada, South Africa and Chile as associate members. Each of these countries has its own national procedure and funding scheme according to which it finances national participation in international EUREKA research and development projects. Information about the EUREKA program and projects is available at: https://www.eurekanetwork.org/

Othe fundamental programming principle of the EUREKA initiative implies that project implementation organizations from all participating countries freely decide on the formulation, implementation and financing of the EUREKA project. A project can receive the EUREKA stamp if:

-          It has a civil purpose;

-          It is implemented through the participation of at least two independent partner implementing organizations, from at least two member countries of the EUREKA initiative;

-          The ultimate goal of the project must be the development of a new or improved product, technology or service;

-          To be guided by the needs of the economy.

-          Regarding financial support to potential applicants from BiH, it is important to emphasize that the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH acts in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Budget of BiH Institutions and international obligations of BiH.

-          This law provides for financial support through the allocation of funds from the current grant, exclusively through a public tender. At the proposal of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the criteria and rights of distribution of current grants are established by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

-          The public tender with prescribed conditions, criteria, methods and deadlines for application is published through the media and the web portal of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (www.mcp.gov.ba), being available to all interested entities.

Contact person for additional information: Mirjana Nikolić, State Project Coordinator for the Eureka network in Bosnia and Herzegovina

E-mail: mirjana.nikolic@mcp.gov.ba

Headquarters and organizational structure

High Level Group: Each EUREKA member country appoints one representative for this group (meets 4 times a year). She decides on program management and prepares discussions on research policy for the Ministerial Conference. High representatives are appointed by the ministry responsible for EUREKA.

National Project Coordinators: They coordinate the administrative and promotional activities of the EUREKA program in the member countries. They are in charge of contacts with participants and potential partners in projects in a particular member country, they help in designing and developing project ideas, they provide information on financing possibilities. The NPC group meets four times a year. At the meetings, the operational activities of the management of activities are discussed and proposals for decisions are prepared to be discussed by the Group of High Representatives.

EUREKA Secretariat: Central support unit (Brussels) that manages the EUREKA databases and is responsible for marketing, communications and networking of development activities.

Every year in June/July, the presidency of the initiative is taken over by a different Member State, which is responsible for organising the meetings and providing strategic direction for the initiative.

Objectives

The primary objective of the EUREKA programme is to encourage companies to invest in research and development activities and thus strengthen their innovation capacity. EUREKA encourages cooperation and pooling of resources between entrepreneurs in order to develop innovative and globally competitive products, processes or services through international cooperation.

The EUREKA programme supports high-quality, market-oriented research and development projects in order to create the basis for international market placement and strengthen European technological competitiveness.

The basic rule of EUREKA is a “bottom-up” approach. There are no thematic restrictions, and projects can apply for any technological area provided that they have a civilian purpose and involve the development of a new product, process or service. The principles of the EUREKA programme are flexible, fast and simple procedures and openness to all technological areas.

EUREKA also acts as a forum for dialogue between the governments of the countries involved to design a strategy for the development of the European innovation system.

Project Types

1. EUREKA Network Projects

(Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently participating only in this type of project)

The original flexible funding program for international R&D projects, which forms the backbone of EUREKA.

It facilitates cooperation between organizations in EUREKA countries by offering participants the freedom to design their project proposal and build the ideal consortium. With simple eligibility criteria and minimal documentation required, participation in these projects accelerates access to public funds.

In this way, small, medium and large companies from all sectors and technological areas are encouraged to invest in the development of new products, processes or services, independently or in cooperation with research and development institutions, through international cooperation in areas that are important for their business.”

2. Eurostars:

A research and development programme created as a joint initiative of the EUREKA Secretariat and the European Commission. Given the long-standing successful existence of EUREKA, the European Commission has decided to contribute to the development activities of small and medium-sized enterprises by participating with up to 25% of the public co-financing. Applicants for the Eurostars programme must be small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in research and development activities. There are no thematic restrictions, and projects can be applied for in any technological area, provided that they have a civilian purpose and involve the development of a new product, process or service.

3. EUREKA clusters (Clusters):

Strategically defined industrial initiatives of a large number of participants whose goal is the development and commercialization of generic technologies important for European competitiveness. Some of the sectors represented are: ICT, energy, biotechnology and other propulsive branches of industry. Croatia will not finance cluster projects in 2021.

An overview of all clusters is available on the EUREKA website

Applicants and partners

The program is intended for small, medium and large companies to develop new products, services or processes. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that:

have fewer than 250 employees

have an annual turnover of less than EUR 40 million

have a balance sheet total of less than EUR 43 million

meet the criteria for independence (the Act on the Promotion of Small Business Development (Official Gazette No. 29/2002) and the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Promotion of Small Business Development (Official Gazette No. 63/2007, 53/2012, 56/2013) for the development of new products, services or processes).

Scientific and research institutions may be involved in the project as external collaborators, but they cannot participate in the project independently.

Scientific research institutions are:

1. Public higher education institutions

2. Public research institutes

Since projects within the EUREKA program are financed from national budgets, each country reserves the right to define its own rules on the intensity of support, on the evaluation process, and on legal entities that can compete for these funds.

The user of the program (all BiH project partners) can have 1 contracted project in the implementation phase (project in progress). The new contracting of the second EUREKA project depends on the successful completion of the previous project.

Since EUREKA are projects of international cooperation, the minimum number of countries involved in the project is two member countries of the initiative. The project partners must be from at least two different countries. A list of member countries is available at www.eurekanetwork.org

If there are several partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the main BiH partner is determined.

All project partners form a consortium in which no single applicant or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the total project costs.