The objective of EuroPIC is no less than to effect a fundamental change in the way applications based on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are designed and manufactured in Europe. The key development is to facilitate access by small companies (SMEs) to development and manufacturing of photonic micro-systems in the form of advanced but very cost effective PICs. EuroPIC can bring forth a new production paradigm to forge a sustainable business sector with the potential for very significant future growth. This will be done by developing a generic technology that is capable of realising complex PICs from a small set of basic building blocks. The programme adopts a holistic approach addressing the whole production chain from idea, via proof of concept, design and prototype to product and application. The consortium will carry out research into manufacturing methods and high-throughput processes which will lead to an open-access industrial generic foundry production capability for Europe. It will demonstrate the potential of the generic approach by fabricating a number of Application Specific PICs (ASPICs) with a record combination of complexity and performance, for a wide range of applications in telecommunications, sensors, data communications, medical systems, metrology and consumer photonics. The consortium is in an excellent position to carry out this ambitious task. It includes Europe’s key players, a mix of SMEs, industry and academic partners, in the fields of component manufacturing, PIC design and applications, photonic CAD, and packaging. Further, EuroPIC is building a strong User Group, many of them SMEs, with committed users from different application fields, which will be actively involved in introducing cost-effective ASPICs in a variety of novel applications, providing Europe with a competitive advantage over the US and the Far East.