Technology and market orientation in company participation in the EU framework programme

This paper will analyse the nature of the EU framework programme, particularly its degree of market-orientation and precompetitiveness, at the time of the fourth framework programme.
The paper will show that precompetitiveness as a project or participation attribute is independent of technology or market orientation, where technology orientation means that the motive for participation in the framework programme is learning and knowledge and market orientation means that the motive is based on commercial objectives.
Technology or market orientations appear almost equally as basic motivations for company participation in the programme.
However, companies usually choose one of the two as their collaboration mode. The paper will further show that the framework programme participation by firms continues to be mainly precompetitive.
This is due to the special circumstances and the contract principles of the framework programme.