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Networking national research programmes comes as a novelty to the EU research framework programme. The so-called ERA Net scheme was introduced in 2002 with the aim to strengthen the European Research Area by supporting the trans-national networking and co-ordination of national research programme implementers (agencies) and owners (ministries).

Most of the projects financed under ERA Net scheme obliged themselves to, first, establish a common platform for a certain programme, and then, run a pilot common call. In such call, common procedures are used for multilateral international projects.

In short, ERA Nets were established to bring more EUREKA-like work that proved successful but has also shown its limits in the last 20 years.

CORNET (COllective Research NETworking) is one of the ERA Net projects that was very fast to come out with a common call. CORNET brings together national programmes to support industrial associations, which organize collective research for its member enterprises. The associations are very different in Europe. They can be technology centres, industrial cluster or simple trade associations established at the chambers of commerce and industry. The most important common denominator is that they have a network of enterprise organized around them and they are willing to provide this network with research results.

For a start, only 5 out of 17 participating countries decided to harmonise procedures in order to run a common call. These countries were: Germany, Austria, Slovenia, region of Flanders and region of Valencia. 5 international projects of industrial associations were conceived in the fields of tooling, eye-optics, construction, textile and tattoo-cosmetics.

The projects are being evaluated at the moment, however a new common call with even more countries participating is already on its way.