International Coatings Scene
EUROPE
BY SEAN MILMO
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT
MILMOCW@RODPUB.COM
SMEs look for support from EU
In a post
recession
environment,
SMEs
struggle
to find
investment
dollars.
Europe’s sluggish recovery from the recession has put pressure on coat- ings companies and their suppliers
to find and develop technologies that will
enable them to launch innovative products
to boost their sales revenues.
For larger companies this can be done
through mergers and acquisitions (M&As),
through product development partnerships
with their customers and suppliers, as well
as through the efforts of their own R&D
departments.
For small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
the options are more limited. Already struggling with the effects of the economic downturn,
many of them cannot afford to finance their
own R&D programs let alone make acquisitions. Instead they have to rely on partnerships,
either with other companies or increasingly
through links with research institutes and
other organizations in the public sector.
They can approach banks and venture capitalists for funds but with many of these
sources money is scarce and expensive after
the financial crisis.
Although European governments are cutting their own budgets to reduce their debts
following the recession, they seem determined to maintain expenditure on R&D in
the belief that innovation is a major stimulus
to growth and creation of jobs.
The European Union in particular continues to be a major spender on R&D projects,
many of which have been specifically tailored
to help SMEs. It is currently in the midst of a
seven-year € 32 billion ($41 billion) research
program that is continuing to launch new
R&D schemes.
The European Commission, the EU execu-
tive, has already started work on preparing
for another seven-year program starting in
2013, which should at least have a similar if
not a bigger budget to that of the existing
one. It will channel resources into bringing
new technologies, such as new coatings con-
cepts, from the discovery stage through to
commercialization in as many downstream
sectors as possible.
