The Lisbon Strategy of the EU (2000-2010) identified ‘innovation’ as the key driver of economic growth and employment creation in Europe. The EU 2020 Strategy, in other words the Post-Lisbon Strategy (2010-2020), also emphasizes the crucial role of R&D in stimulating growth and helping the EU face important future challenges, such as climate change, energy security and an ageing population. In the strategy, the EU puts forward some flagship initiatives such as 'European Innovation Partnerships' which will be established between the EU and national levels to speed up the development and the deployment of the technologies needed to meet the identified challenges.

CECIMO fully supports the EU’s commitment to stimulating greater public and private spending in industrial R&D investment.

In the coming years, the machine tool industry will be at the forefront of key enabling technologies which underpin the sustainability and the global competitiveness of the European manufacturing industry. The EU 2020 Strategy recognizes the strategic importance of maintaining and developing a strong and competitive industrial base in Europe.

In this respect, the machine tool industry needs to constantly upgrade its technological base to cope with increasing competitive global pressures and to continue offering superior technological solutions and services to end user industries in Europe such as automotive,  transport industry (railways, shipbuilding, aerospace), the electrical engineering sector (IT hardware, consumer electronics, etc.), the metal industry and the energy generation sectors.

R&D investment in the machine tool industry should be focused to meet the following challenges:

-> Continuous investment in new technologies to catch up with global trends (increased productivity, eco-efficiency, mass-customisation etc.)

-> Contribution to the sustainability and energy efficiency objectives

-> Maintaining and upgrading the skills of workers working in the machine tool industry (through life-long learning)

-> Ensuring a high level of health & safety in the workplace

-> Investing in new business models which offer increased customized solutions to customers through the entire life-cycle of products

CECIMO backs and promotes European initiatives which support and encourage research in the European machine tool industry. The following pages provide a brief summary of the main research funding schemes available to machine tool builders.