Abstract.
From the 60 000 people employed in the microsystems sector world-wide, Europe only hosts less than 10%, while the market share is slightly higher. The CEU - Commission of the European Union and also some national authorities of individual states have started campaigns to strengthen the European microsystems industry. This presentation will give an overview on these activities, show how they are co-ordinated, and indicate where US industries and institutes may benefit and be involved. NEXUS - the Network of Excellence in Multifunctional Microsystems has opened to world-wide membership in 1999 ? market studies and roadmap activities are carried out on a global basis, anyway. Within the 5th Framework Programme (5th FWP) ? Innovation Society Technology (IST), the CEU supports R&D on a European basis, but also intents to improve the access to design and manufacturing support which has already been started within earlier programs like ESPRIT (Europractice). EURIMUS is a new strategic EUREKA initiative, supported by the 26 member countries from the EU plus Central and East European countries. The main objective of EURIMUS is to use the strong European technology base and manufacturing capacity to increase the number of industrial MST prototypes and products.