SPARC is expected to create more than 240,000 jobs in Europe.
The European Commission will invest €700 million in SPARC under its new research and innovation
programme Horizon 2020. The European industry’s overall investment will amount to €2.1 billion. This
public‐private partnership (PPP) will increase Europe’s competitiveness in the production and use of
robotics in industry, agriculture, health, transport, civil security and households.

Robotics contributes to Europe’s strong position in global manufacturing. But the potential of robotics
goes far beyond the factory: robots help nurses in hospitals, inspect dangerous power plant, and do
tedious jobs on farms. Autonomous cars are another example where robotics technology is at work. The
global market for robotics amounts to €22 billion and is expected to grow to more than €60 billion by
2020. Europe is already a leader, with an overall market share of 35%, but efforts are needed to follow
the pace of this rapidly evolving sector and making the most of it. The new Partnership for Robotics in
Europe SPARC aims to increase the European market share to 42% in 2020.

With SPARC, the European Commission joins forces with the European industry and research to
strengthen and further develop European robotics. euRobotics AISBL represents the private side in the
PPP and gathers more than 180 European companies, universities and research institutions, ranging
from traditional industrial robotics manufacturers to producers of agricultural machinery and innovative
hospitals. The members of euRobotics AISBL are developing a “roadmap for robotics in Europe” to
achieve the objectives of SPARC. This roadmap is turned into concrete work programmes and calls for
proposals.

Vice‐President of the European Commission @NeelieKroesEU, responsible for the Digital Agenda, says:
“The robotics revolution is happening now. We should not follow it, but lead it. Robots can improve our
economy, our lives, our jobs. Robots are not cutting humans out of the equation: they are partners for a
better future. Let SPARC be a metaphor for igniting the robotics revolution here in Europe”.