The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) is one of the EU’s key instruments in support of innovation. With the current programme period ending in 2013, it is now at the time to think about the future role and design of a ‘CIP II’. A public consultation (which ended on 4 February 2011) has therefore been organised by the European Commission in order to receive views and ideas regarding a possible successor programme. Only a few days after the end of that consultation, a second consultation has been launched, which more generally addresses the design of the EU’s various research and innovation funding programmes as a whole.

The K4I Dinner Debate will take up some of the most important results of the CIP consultation and discuss the priorities for a post-2013 CIP. It will also have a look at the relation between the CIP and other EU funding programmes along the innovation chain, thus also addressing the second consultation. More specifically, the questions will be:

• What has the CIP achieved so far and where did it fail? Which elements have proven successful, which should be re-designed, replaced or abolished?
• What have we learned with regard to the financial instruments provided by the CIP?
• How exactly will a future CIP fit into the various EU2020 flagship initiatives, in particular the ‘Innovation Union’, ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’, ‘Resource Efficient Europe’?
• To what extent could the CIP be integrated with the EU’s Research Framework Programme and where are the limits?
• How could the synergies between the CIP and Structural Funds be increased?Should a future CIP address the grand challenges (in addition to the energy theme)?