29/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - In conclusions adopted in Brussels on Monday, the Competitiveness Council "welcomes with interest the integrated strategy for research and innovation proposed by the European Commission" and which will use a broad range of fields and instruments. It stresses that the access of companies, particularly SMEs, to financial resources, must be improved, by providing recourse to several instruments, notably cooperation with the Group of the EIB. The Member States and the Commission are called upon to step up their efforts within the framework of initiatives such as INNOVA and EUREKA, or other structures such as CREST and ERA-NET.