Forty years ago today, on July 18, 1985 (June 1, 1985 lunar calendar), the "Eureka Project" was born. The French President Mitterrand who first proposed the Eureka Project "Eureka" was originally an ancient Greek word, meaning: "Yes! There is a way!" The ancient Greek scholar Archimedes, once taking a bath in the bathtub, suddenly got inspired and found his long-unsolved solution to the buoyancy problem, so he called "Eureka" in surprise, and discovered Archimedes' law. The Eureka Project is the product of the "self-awakening" of Western Europe in the face of great challenges and pressures. In the mid-1970s, Western Europe gradually lagged behind the United States and Japan in terms of technology, especially high technology. After entering the 1980s, the gap widened further. If Western Europe does not take measures to catch up, it may become a technologically "underdeveloped continent" by the end of the 20th century. At the same time, Western European countries also realized that in this high-tech competition that determines the future destiny, only a Europe that pools "human, material and financial resources can effectively maintain its economic position in the future world." In addition, the "Star Wars" plan proposed by the United States and the intense military competition between the United States and the Soviet Union also objectively promoted the revitalization and unity of Western Europe, which created a strong sense of urgency that Western Europe must take the road of unity, gather the strengths of all countries, and catch up with the United States and Japan in the field of high technology. The Eureka Plan was jointly conceived by the foreign ministers of France and the former Federal Republic of Germany in March 1985, and officially proposed by French President François Mitterrand on April 17. Once the resounding name Eureka was called out, it quickly attracted the attention and welcome of most countries in Western Europe. At the end of June, the European Community Summit agreed in principle to the Eureka Plan. On July 17, the 17 foreign ministers and scientific research ministers of Western Europe held the first Eureka meeting in Paris, France (the second Eureka meeting also absorbed Turkey), and initially agreed on the outline of the Eureka Plan. On the 18th, a communiqué was issued to announce the official birth of Eureka. The "Eureka" plan proposes that Western European countries strengthen cooperation in the field of cutting-edge technology and gradually establish the "European Technical Community". The specific cooperation content initially includes five aspects: (1) Computers: the establishment of the European Software Engineering Center, the development of advanced micro-information processors, etc.; (2) Automatic devices: the development of civilian safety automatic devices and all automated factories, etc.; (3) Communication: the development of information networks for scientific research services, the development of large data switches, etc.; (4) Bioengineering: the research of artificial seeds, control engineering, etc.; (5) New materials: the research of new material structures, the development of high-efficiency turbines, etc. There are more than 300 projects, including 24 key projects. By the end of 1993, Eureka held 11 ministerial meetings. The membership increased from 17 to 22 countries except the European Commission. Hungary joined Eureka in 1992 as the first country in Eastern Europe. In 1993, Russia also applied to join Eureka. In addition, companies and scientific research institutions from 12 non-Eureka member states, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Israel, and Poland, have also participated in 26 Eureka research projects. The implementation of the Eureka project has had a significant impact not only on the economy and politics of Europe, but also on the whole world.