Access to EU funding remains beset by inequalities and intrinsically skewed with wealthy countries still taking the lion's share of benefits from Europe-wide programmes, according to GUE/NGL MEP Marisa Matias whose report on the strategic framework for research and innovation funding is up for discussion in Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy committee this afternoon.

The report highlights the lack of SME involvement in programmes, partly due to the fact that existing schemes are better suited to major academic institutions and large companies.

"Existing instruments don't take differences of nature and scale of R&D and innovation projects into account. A single scheme cannot be applied to entities that are different by nature such as big industry, universities and SMEs. Smaller, bottom-up, and cooperative projects should be facilitated. The ability to make distinctions is what enables us to combine individual parts into a strategically coherent whole."

Presenting her report today, Matias will argue for a new organisation model for funding and the creation of a new funding instrument: a European investment bank for SMEs. With the report set for a plenary vote after the summer recess, Matias will seek to lay down a strong EP stance on this Codecision dossier.