The EU Research Programme is complex and is perceived to be accessible only to universities and research institutions. This presentation will focus on how the private sector, a technology SME, has managed to do substantial R&D activities in EU partnerships and derived commercial products. On such example is in the area of eDemocracy, i.e. engaging citizens in the democratic processes, where we participated in a eTen deployment project with a webcasting, which today is a successful product and service in several European Countries. Another example is an ongoing research project that provide infrastructure for food traceability and product life-cycle management.