COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council COSME - Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs 2014-2020 - Monitoring Report 2014
Date: 2016-08-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, EU programme, aid to undertakings, business start-up, commitment of expenditure, competitiveness, financial control, market access, small and medium-sized enterprises

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.8.2016  SWD(2016) 274 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council COSME - Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs 2014-2020 - Monitoring Report 2014 {COM(2016) 526 final} {SWD(2016) 277 final}  
 
 
PART I DETAILS OF COSME ACTIONS 2014 

Contents 

Annex I details of cosme actions 2014 .................................................................................... 2 

1. 

Access to Finance ........................................................................................................... 4 

1.1.  Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF)  .................................................................................................. 4 

1.2.  Equity Facility for Growth (EFG)  .............................................................................................. 8 

1.3.  ACCOMPANYING ACTIONS ................................................................................................ 10 

2. 

ACCESS TO MARKETS ........................................................................................... 12 

2.1.  Enterprise Europe Network ....................................................................................................... 12 

2.2.  YOUR EUROPE BUSINESS PORTAL - YEB ....................................................................... 16 

2.3.  ASEAN, China and MERCOSUR IPR SME helpdesks ........................................................... 18 

2.4.  SME INTERNATIONALISATION ......................................................................................... 20 

2.5.  EU-JAPAN CENTRE FOR INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION ................................................. 22 

2.6.  FACILITATING ACCESS TO LIGHT RPAS REGULATION .............................................. 24 

2.7.  Industrial policy cooperation ..................................................................................................... 25 

3. 

IMPROVING FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS AND COMPETITIVENESS ...... 27 

3.1.  E-SKILLS FOR COMPETITIVENESS AND INNOVATION ................................................ 27 

3.2.  CLUSTER INTERNATIONALISATION PROGRAMME FOR SMES ................................. 29 

3.3.  CLUSTER EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME ............................................................................ 31 

3.4.  PROMOTION AND SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY FOR KEY ENABLING 

TECHNOLOGIES (KETS)............................................................................................................... 32 

3.5.  ORGANISATION OF THE EUROPEAN MULTI-STAKEHOLDER FORUM (MSF) ON 

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - CSR ........................................................................ 33 

3.6.  Implementation of the Action Plan “Construction 2020” ......................................................... 34 

European Construction Observatory ................................................................................................. 34 

3.7.  FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS ON THE COMMUNICATION ON SUSTAINABLE 

COMPETITIVENESS OF THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR ....................................................... 35 

3.8.  Supporting study for the fitness check on construction sector .................................................. 35 

3.9.  MEMBERSHIP IN THE INTERNATIONAL RUBBER STUDY GROUP (IRSG) ............... 36 

3.10.  MEMBERSHIP IN THE INTERNATIONAL STUDY GROUPS for nickel, copper, lead 

and zinc  36 

3.11. 

3.12. 

3.13. 

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR SMES ......................... 37 

SME PERFORMANCE REVIEW .................................................................................... 38 

FOLLOW-UP AND MONITORING the Small Business Act (SBA) 

IMPLEMENTATION ....................................................................................................................... 40 

2 

 
 
 
 
3.14. 

3.15. 

Small Business Act IMPLEMENTATION: OUTREACH TOOLS ................................. 42 

ENHANCING EUROPEAN TOURISM’S COMPETITIVENESS AND 

SUSTAINABILITY .......................................................................................................................... 43 

1) Increasing tourism flows in low/medium seasons ........................................................................ 43 

2) Diversifying the EU tourism offer and products .......................................................................... 43 

3) Enhance tourism quality, sustainability, accessibility, skills, information and innovation .......... 44 

4) Improving socio-economic knowledge of the sector .................................................................... 45 

5) Increasing Europe's visibility as a tourist destination as well as of its diverse destinations ......... 46 

3.16. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLAN "A MORE EFFICIENT DEFENCE SECTOR 

FOR A MORE SECURE EUROPE" ................................................................................................ 50 

3.17. 

High-Level Group on Administrative Burden ................................................................... 51 

3.18.  Monitoring of the implementation of principles of good practice in vertical relationships 

in the food supply chain .................................................................................................................... 52 

3.19. 

Exchanges of Good Practices to Support European COMPETITIVENESS ..................... 52 

4. 

PROMOTING 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

AND 

ENTREPRENEURIAL 

CULTURE .............................................................................................................................. 54 

4.1.  ERASMUS FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ...................................................................... 54 

4.2.  SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP POLICY IMPLEMENTATION ............................ 58 

4.3.  DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR ...................................................................... 60 

4.4.  ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION (PAN-EUROPEAN ENTREPRENEURIAL 

LEARNING INITIATIVE) ............................................................................................................... 62 

4.5.  WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP - EUROPEAN ON-LINE E-PLATFORM FOR FEMALE 

ENTREPRENEURS ......................................................................................................................... 63 

4.6.  SENIOR ENTREPRENEURS BEST PRACTICE EXCHANGE ............................................ 64 

4.7.  Promotion of social economy in Europe ................................................................................... 66 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
1. ACCESS TO FINANCE 
1.1. 

LOAN GUARANTEE FACILITY (LGF) 1 

The Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) under COSME is the successor of the SME Guarantee 
Facility established under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme - CIP 
(2007 - 2013).  
Based  on  the  experience  gained  under  CIP  and  in  line  with  requirements  formulated  for 
financial instruments under the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom N° 966/2012 of October 
2012) the terms and conditions for the COSME financial instruments have been adjusted. 
Within  the  single  EU  debt  financial  instruments  for  EU  enterprises’  growth  and  R&I,  the 
LGF provides with: 

  Counter-guarantees  and  other  risk  sharing  arrangements  for  guarantee  schemes 

including, where appropriate, co-guarantees; 

  Direct  guarantees  and  other  risk  sharing  arrangements  for  any  other  financial 

intermediaries meeting the eligibility criteria. 

The implementation of the LGF is entrusted to the European Investment Fund (EIF).  
The characteristics of the LGF in the form of capped (counter-) guarantees are: 
•  Guarantees for debt financing (including via subordinated and participating loans, leasing 
or bank guarantees) which shall reduce the particular difficulties that viable SMEs face in 
accessing finance either due to their perceived high risk or their lack of sufficient available 
collateral;  

•  Up to an amount of EUR 150,000 for all types of SMEs (regardless of sector or size) will 
be eligible for financing under the LGF. Above the threshold financial intermediaries will 
have to verify that the SME is not RDI driven and therefore not eligible for financing under 
the  Horizon  2020’s  SME  &  small  midcaps  debt  financing  window  (InnovFin  SME 
Guarantee Facility). As regards the level of the guarantee, the entrusted entity will provide 
guarantees to financial intermediaries which will cover a portion of the expected losses of a 
portfolio of newly generated, higher-risk SME transactions.  

•  The  portfolios  shall  be  composed  of  transactions  which  the financial  intermediary would 
not have supported in the absence of the guarantee. The range of financial products which 
can be supported through the guarantees is intended to be broad so as not to discriminate 
amongst  the  SME  population  and  to  allow  financial  intermediaries  to  tailor  products 
according to the specific needs of the market in which they operate.  

•  Individual  guarantee  agreements  to  be  signed  by  the  entrusted  entity  with  a  financial 
intermediary  will  have  a  maximum  duration  of 10  years,  whereby  it  shall  be  permissible 
that  individual  financing  transactions  have  maturities  exceeding  10  years.  Individual 
financing transactions must have a minimum duration of 12 months. 

The characteristics of the LGF in the form of guarantees for securitisation transactions are: 
•  Guarantees  for  the  mezzanine  tranche  of  securitisation  of  SME  debt  finance  portfolios, 
which are coupled with a contractual undertaking by the financial intermediary to build up 
new  SME  debt  finance  portfolios.  The  amount  of  this  new  debt  financing  shall  be 
calculated in relation to the amount of the guaranteed portfolio risk. This amount and the 
period  of  time  shall  be  negotiated  individually  with  each  originating  institution  by  the 
entrusted entity. 

1  Further information is available as part of the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council 
on financial instruments supported by the general budget according to Art.140.8 of the Financial Regulation as at 31 
December 2014 – COM(2015)565 and the accompanying Staff Working Document SWD(2015)206  

4 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
The LGF is demand-driven  meaning that  the allocation of funding takes  place  based on the 
demand  expressed  by  financial  intermediaries  also  taking  into  account  the  need  for  a  broad 
geographical distribution (e.g. through incentives to be provided from the Commission to the 
entrusted entity). 

Relationship with Horizon 2020: 
The  LGF  is  part  of  the  single  EU  debt  financial  instrument  for  EU  enterprises’  growth  and 
research  and  innovation  (R&I),  together  with  the  InnovFin  SME  Guarantee  facility  set  up 
under  the  Horizon  2020  programme.  The  InnovFin  SME  Guarantee  facility,  which  is  also 
entrusted to the EIF for implementation, provides financing to SMEs and small midcaps with 
significant  research,  development  and  innovation  (RDI)  potential  or  investments  in  RDI 
activities,  both  with  significant  technological  and  financial  risk  provided  that  these  are 
eligible  under  the  innovation  criteria  as  set  out  in  the  open  call  for  expression  of  interest 
published for this facility. 
Financial intermediaries are free to apply either for one or both facilities under COSME and 
Horizon  2020  in  line  with  their  business  objectives  and  possibilities  to  reach  the  potential 
target group of the different facilities. 

LGF contribution to the EU SME Initiative 
The  LGF  may  also  contribute  to  the  financial  instruments  to  be  deployed  under  the  SME 
Initiative,  a  joint  instrument  combining  EU  funds  available  under  COSME  LGF  and/or  the 
InnovFin SME Guarantee facility under Horizon 2020 and ESIF resources in cooperation with 
EIF/EIF with a view to generate additional lending to SMEs in specific Member States. This 
contribution may take the form of uncapped portfolio guarantees or securitisation operations 
and cover the mezzanine tranche of the portfolio. The SME Initiative is conceived as an anti-
crisis measure with budget commitments over 3 years (2014-2016).  

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

  The Delegation Agreement entrusting the EIF with the implementation of the LGF 

has been signed on 22 July 2014. 

  The  EIF  has  published  in  August  2014  a  continuous  open  call  for  expression  of 

interest 
(http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/guarantees/single_eu_debt_instrument/cosme-loan-
facility-growth/index.htm)  to  which  financial  intermediaries  may  apply  at  any  time 
until 30 September 2020.  

 

  By the end of 2014, three guarantee agreements have been signed with three financial 
intermediaries located in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is expected that 
under  these  agreements,  EUR  850.9  million  of  financing  will  be  provided  to  around 
13.000 SMEs. 
In terms of relevance of results and impact and based on cumulative implementation 
data as at the end of 2015, in anticipation of the monitoring report for 2015, more than 
51 000 SMEs already received financing for almost EUR 1 300 million under the 
LGF, also thanks to the enhancement of the COSME LGF through additional risk-
bearing capacity provided from the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) 
which was made available in July 2015. This particularly swift start of 
implementation, exceeding expectations and confirming the high market demand, 
shows that the LGF by providing financing to riskier SMEs that otherwise would not 
have had access to such financing, especially start-ups and smaller SMEs, has an 
important impact on the real economy in the EU and other participating countries of 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
the COSME programme.  

  There was no LGF contribution to the SME Initiative in 2014. 
  Furthermore, the SME Guarantee Facility (SMEG) under CIP, the predecessor of the 
LGF, continues to support SMEs as some SMEG financial  intermediaries are still in 
the  so-called  “availability  period”  of  their  operation,  during  which  time  they  can 
include  new  SME  loans  or  leases  in  the  guaranteed  portfolio.  In  2014,  more  than 
56.000  SMEs  received  more  than  EUR  3  billion  of  financing  supported  by  SMEG. 
Since its start, the SMEG has supported the provision of more than EUR 19 billion of 
financing to almost 368.000 SMEs. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 
After the launch of the call for expression of interest in August 2014, the EIF as well as the 
Commission  received  positive  feedback  from  relevant  stakeholders  on  the  usefulness  of  the 
instrument. This has been further confirmed by the very strong pipeline presented by the EIF 
to the Commission and available commitment appropriations were exhausted already towards 
the end of the first half of 2015.  
As  of  September  2015,  the  EIF  received  47  applications  from  19  countries,  16  transactions 
have already been signed out of which 5 have been frontloaded thanks to the European Fund 
for Strategic Investments (EFSI).2  
SME Initiative: 
In the course of 2015 two Member States signed up, namely Spain and Malta. Both decided to 
pool resources with Horizon 2020 in order to focus on the financing of innovative SMEs and 
small midcaps. It is expected that going forward more countries will join the SME Initiative 
and  will  decide  to  make  use  of  COSME  LGF  resources  either  under  Option  1  (uncapped 
guarantees) or under Option 2 (securitisation). 

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 
The  call  for  expression  of  interest  is  open  until  30  September  2020.  New  agreements  with 
financial intermediaries can be signed until 30 June 2021. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 
As of 31 December 2014, the total budget committed for the LGF amounted to EUR 89 129 
526, out of which EUR 42 846 380 were committed by the EIF to financial intermediaries 
under three guarantee agreements. The remaining amount was committed in the first half of 
2015. 

INDICATORS 
For the three operations signed with financial intermediaries in 2014, the volume of financing 
which will be made available to SMEs amounts to almost EUR 851 million, with an expected 
number of around 13.000 SMEs benefitting from financing.3 

2 As the resources made available under the LGF are not sufficient to satisfy market demand for the financing of 
SMEs, a second amendment of the COSME Delegation Agreement has been signed in July 2015, allowing for a 
combination  of  LGF  resources  with  additional  risk-bearing  capacity  under  EFSI  so  as  to  avoid  disruptions  in 
signing transactions with financial intermediaries. 
3  The  2014  indicators  will  be  achieved  at  the  end  of  the  availability  period  of  the  underlying  SME  loan 
portfolios.  The  indicators  refer  to  new  SME  loan  portfolios  built  during  the  whole  availability  period  of 
individual deals with financial intermediaries authorised in 2014. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Based  on  the  overall  2014  budgetary  commitments  for  the  LGF  (EUR  89  million),  the 
expected leverage for the operations signed in 2014 is 1 to 10. This leverage is expected to 
increase  significantly  in  2015  as  additional  operations  related  to  the  2014  LGF  budgetary 
commitments will be signed throughout the year. 

BENEFICIARIES 
In line with Article 58.5 of the Financial Regulation, the EIF ensures appropriate annual ex 
post publication of information on recipients. For the LGF, this information is available on  
http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/guarantees/single_eu_debt_instrument/cosme-loan-facility-
growth/index.htm. 

Recipients as of 31 December 2014:  

Country 

Germany 

Spain 

Financial 
Intermediary 

LfA Förderbank 
Bayern on behalf of 
other Landesbanken 
Nuevo MicroBank 
S.A.U. 

United Kingdom 

Orange Money Ltd 

Adress 

Königinstraße 17 
 80539 Munich 

Juan Gris 10-18 planta 
10, Torre Centro 
Complejo Torres Cerda 
 8014 Barcelona 
39-40 North Road 
N7 9DP London 

Type of 
support 

Portfolio 
Guarantee 

Portfolio 
Guarantee 

Budgetary 
allocation 
EUR 3 825 000 

EUR 35 750 000 

Portfolio 
Guarantee 

GBP 2 200 000 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.2. 

EQUITY FACILITY FOR GROWTH (EFG) 4 

The  Equity  Facility  for  Growth  (EFG)  is  one  of  the  successor  instruments  of  the  High 
Growth  and  Innovative  SME  Facility  (GIF)  established  under  the  Competitiveness  and 
Innovation Framework Programme - CIP (2007 - 2013). It succeeds the GIF2 window set up 
under GIF to cover expansion stage investments into SMEs.  
Based  on  the  experience  gained  under  CIP  and  in  line  with  requirements  formulated  for 
financial instruments under the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom N° 966/2012 of October 
2012) the terms and conditions for the COSME financial instruments have been adjusted. 
The implementation of the EFG is entrusted to the European Investment Fund (EIF).  
Through the EFG risk capital funds can be supported which invest into SMEs at the growth 
stage,  predominantly  on  a  cross-border  basis,  or  which  help  portfolio  companies  to  grow 
beyond their national markets with a view to supporting the development of a self-sustainable 
pan-European risk capital market.  
The characteristics of the EFG are: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The  entrusted  entity  shall  make  direct  investments  in  intermediary  risk  capital 
funds providing investments for SMEs typically in their expansion and growth 
stage. These risk capital funds shall provide equity and mezzanine finance, such as 
subordinated or participating loans; 
Investments  shall  be  long-term,  normally  involving  5  to  15  year  positions, 
whereby the life of an investment shall not exceed 20 years; 
Investments may also be made into risk capital funds investing at the seed, start-
up and early stage in conjunction with the early-stage Equity Facility for R&I 
(Research  and  Innovation)  under  Horizon  2020  whereby  the  investment  from 
EFG shall not exceed 20% of the total EU investment; 
In  the  case  of  multi-stage  funds,  the  COSME  EFG  and  the  Horizon  2020  early-
stage  Equity  Facility  for  R&I  will  contribute  pro  rata  to  the  funding  of  the  risk 
capital funds based on the fund’s investment policy. 

The EFG is demand-driven, meaning that the allocation of funding will take place based on 
the  demand  expressed  by  financial  intermediaries  also  taking  into  account  the  need  for  a 
broad  geographical  distribution  (e.g.  through  fee  incentives  which  the  Commission  has 
provided to the entrusted entity). 
The EFG is part of the single EU equity financial instrument for EU enterprises’ growth and 
research and innovation (R&I), together with the Horizon 2020 early-stage equity facility (the 
‘InnovFin  SME  Venture  Capital’  facility).  The  InnovFin  SME  Venture  Capital  facility  will 
focus  on  risk  capital  funds  investing  in  seed,  start-up  and  early-stage  SMEs  and  small 
midcaps that are RDI-driven. 
Financial  intermediaries  are  free to  apply  either  for  one  of  the  two  facilities  under  COSME 
and Horizon 2020 or for both in line with the fund’s investment policy. The InnovFin SME 
Venture  Capital  facility  succeeds  the  GIF1  equity  facility  under  the  Competitiveness  and 
Innovation Framework Programme. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  
The  Delegation  Agreement  entrusting  the  EIF  with  the  implementation  of  the  EFG  was 
signed on 22 July 2014. 

4  Further information is available as part of the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council 
on financial instruments supported by the general budget according to Art.140.8 of the Financial Regulation as at 31 
December 2014 – COM(2015)565 and the accompanying Staff Working Document SWD(2015)206 

8 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
A  continuous  open  call  for  expression  of  interest  has  been  published  by  the  EIF 
to  which 
(http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/equity/single_eu_equity_instrument/index.htm) 
financial intermediaries may apply at any time until 30 September 2020.  
While the EIF screened a number of potential fund proposals for eligibility under the EFG, no 
due  diligence  process  was  completed  at  the  end  of  the  year.  The  first  signatures  of  fund 
agreements are expected to take place in the second half of 2015. 
In 2014, the GIF (High Growth and Innovative SME Facility) instrument continued to provide 
risk  capital  to  SMEs,  with  more  than  EUR  288  million  of  equity  finance  mobilised  to  112 
SMEs.  Since  its  start,  the  GIF  has  mobilised  more  than  EUR  3  billion  of  equity  finance  to 
around 450 SMEs. This number will continue to rise for several years since many of the funds 
are still in the early part of their 5-year investment periods. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 
According to relevant stakeholders, there is a significant shortage for risk capital investments 
in the market and the lack of equity finance in Europe is increasingly being recognised as a 
key bottleneck to the provision of further overall SME funding.  
In  this  context,  the  EU  equity  instruments  such  as  the  EFG  have  an  important  role  to  play 
supporting  SMEs  and  addressing  market  gaps  or  sub-optimal  market  situations,  especially 
with  respect  to  the  ‘access  to  finance’  issue  for  early-stage  enterprises,  including  in  their 
expansion and growth phase. 
The due diligence process for equity operations is however much more complex than the one 
required for the signature of guarantee agreements and needs more time. In addition, the fund-
raising process takes also more time due to the involvement of various investors.  
According  to  industry  statistics  fund-raising  conditions  remain  very  challenging,  with  the 
consequence that  fund managers  may not  be able to raise the required private capital  in  the 
existing adverse market conditions to reach the first closing of the fund. 
Five fund agreements have been signed by the end of 2015, out of which two relate to Growth 
and Expansion Stage funds and three to Multi-Stage funds, in combination with the InnovFin 
Equity Facility for Early Stage set up under Horizon 2020. 

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 
The  call  for  expression  of  interest  is  open  until  30  September  2020.  New  agreements  with 
financial intermediaries can be signed until 31 December 2021. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 
As of 31 December 2014, the total budget committed for the EFG amounted to EUR 51 657 
588 that can be committed by the EIF to sign agreements until the 31 December 2021. 

INDICATORS 
It is expected that over the lifetime of the programme between 362 and 544 firms will receive 
risk capital investment with overall volume ranging from EUR 2.6 to EUR 4 billion. 
The  target  leverage  effect  is  expected  to  be  in  the  1:4  to  1:6  range  over  the  lifetime  of  the 
programme. 

BENEFICIARIES 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In line with Article 58.5  of the Financial Regulation, the EIF ensures appropriate annual ex 
post publication of information on recipients. As no fund agreements have been signed with 
financial intermediaries in 2014, there is no such publication yet. 

1.3. 

ACCOMPANYING ACTIONS 

The budget committed in 2014 for the accompanying actions amounts to EUR 1 241 252 to 
deliver the following results: 

Survey on SMEs access to finance 
DG  GROW  and  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  jointly  run  regular  surveys  on  SMEs’ 
access to finance. To limit the burden that data collection places on SMEs, requirements and 
resources have been pooled into a common framework for surveying the European SMEs. 
A framework agreement for the performance of surveys on the access to finance of SMEs was 
signed with Panteia B.V. (the Netherlands) on 8 May 2014 for 4 years.  
The 2014 Survey on the access to finance of enterprises (SAFE) provides information on the 
financial situation, financing needs, access to financing and expectations of SMEs in the six 
preceding months and comprises a sample of 17,000 firms across 30 countries.  
EU's small businesses are increasingly optimistic about their growth prospects but many are 
still concerned about the lack of access to finance. Between April and September 2014, SMEs 
demands  for  financing  were  not  always  fulfilled  -  especially  for  smaller  and  younger 
companies.  
The next survey was planned for October 2015. It was carried out in all EU Member States 
and  in  other  countries  participating  in  COSME.  It  targeted  SME  managers  with  a  control 
group  of  large  firms.  The  results  are  published  on  http://ec.europa.eu/growth/safe  in 
December 2015 for the use of interested parties, including Member States, analysts, academia. 
SAFE results are also widely used in the evidence-based policy context, in many Commission 
reports and analysis. It includes annual SME performance review reports (SBA country fact 
sheets, access to finance dimension: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-
environment/performance-review), the European Semester SME access to finance evidence 
(Key areas: comparing Member States' performances - SME access to finance: 
http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/making-it-happen/key-areas/), research papers prepared by 
DG ECFIN, EIF or OECD. Independent researchers are also often requesting access to 
anonymized micro data to perform more detailed analysis. 

Promotion of EU financial instruments 
In  order  to  successfully  roll  out  the  COSME  financial  instruments  throughout  Europe,  the 
Commission organised the campaign 'EU Access to finance days' in Member States.  
In total 17 events were organised and further events in other Member States were prepared for 
2015. The Commission also produced various communication materials such as leaflets and 
infographics. To ease the access of SMEs to  EU financial instruments, the Commission has 
also created a single webportal on all EU financial instruments.5 
Following the successful completion of the road show presenting EU financial instruments in 
28  Member  States,  further  targeted  events  might  need  to  be  organised  in  new  Participating 
Countries  or  countries  lacking  strong  demand  for  COSME  financial  instruments.  The 

5 http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/funding-grants/access-to-finance/index_en.htm 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Commission  also  needs  to  continue  to  update  and  promote  the  single  webportal  on  all  EU 
financial instruments. 

Study - "Practical guide on crowdfunding SMES" 
In  2014  the  European Commission  proposed  a  Communication  on  crowdfunding  to  address 
these issues and exploit the full potential of crowdfunding in the EU. Among the envisaged 
actions,  the  Commission  announced  the  need  to  "raise  awareness,  provide  information  and 
training modules for project owners, especially for financial return crowdfunding". Currently, 
not  enough  and  complete  information  is  available  at  EU  level  to  inform  SMEs  on  this 
innovative form of finance. This guide aims at filling this gap.  Better access to crowdfunding 
by SMEs can ultimately lead to more investments and employment in the EU. 
A  contract  (under  a  Commission  Framework  Contract)  has  been  signed  with  ECORYS  to 
deliver  a  guide  on  crowdfunding,  which  explains  to  SMEs  what  it  is,  its  benefits/risks,  and 
how it works. 
The guide is available in 23 languages in DG GROW website.6 

Workshops 
Workshops with SMEs, banks and other financial institutions were organised to monitor the 
market  situation  and  to  facilitate  SMEs’  access  to  finance.  The  topics  were  SME-banks 
transparency  and  loan  applications,  mezzanine  financing,  European  Small  and  Mid-cap 
awards jury panel meeting, expert meeting on the Practical Guide on Crowdfunding, follow-
up to the study on "Improving the market performance for SMEs". 
Positive feedback has been received from participants on quality, relevance and added value 
of workshops. 

6 http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/crowdfunding-guide/index_en.htm. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2. ACCESS TO MARKETS   

2.1. ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK 

The  Enterprise  Europe  Network  supports  businesses  and  innovation  –  in  particular 
SMEs  –  by  offering  information,  feedback  and  business  cooperation  services,  innovation, 
technology and knowledge transfer services as well as services encouraging the participation 
of SMEs in the Community framework programmes for R&D.  

Two  measures  were  implemented  in  2014.  The  first  relates  to  the  activities  and  further 
development of the Network. The second relates to the activities put in place to organise 
the Annual Conference and to animate the Network. It includes services needed to operate 
the  IT  tools  and  to  organize  trainings,  working  groups,  meetings,  communication  activities 
and services to the Network partners.  

The operational objectives of the Enterprise Europe Network are: 

(1) Help enterprises finding partners outside their own country for developing their business, 
export, technology and knowledge; 

(2) Provide services encouraging the  participation of SMEs in the Community Framework 
Programme  for  RTD  and  promote  EU  policies  and  SMEs  access  to  EU  programmes  and 
financial instruments; 

(3)  Develop  Network  recognition  and  awareness  locally;  ensure  that  the  Network  and  its 
services are known by SMEs in the geographical areas covered; 

(4) Develop an integrated service range, where services towards business development are 
balanced  with  services  towards  technology  and  knowledge  transfer,  and  synergies  among 
network partners are increased; 

(5)  Guide  clients  towards  the  most  appropriate  service  provider;  implement  the  “no  wrong 
door” concept and build synergies with other relevant service providers within the Network as 
well as in the region, to offer complementary services; 

(6) Continuously increase the quality and effectiveness of the integrated services provided by 
the Network; 

(7)  Contribute  to  the  SMEs  Feedback  function  by  consulting  businesses  and  obtaining  their 
opinion on Community policy options; 

(8)  Build  an  efficient  management  system  in  reducing  the  administrative  burden  for  all 
parties, for planning, reporting and monitoring. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

2014 has been the last year of the Network in the CIP period. The Network consisted of 79 
consortia for which there were framework partnership agreements in place from EU28 and 13 
from  CIP  participating  countries  with  specific  grant  agreements  signed  to  cover  this  last 
operational period 2013-2014.   
There  were  23  cooperation  agreements  signed  for  Business  Cooperation  Centers  in  3rd 
countries  (please  refer  to  een.ec.europa.eu    for  the  current  list  of  partners  present  in  63 
countries).  

Conditional  terms  for  Associated  and  Affiliated  membership  were  signed  with  16  and  10 
organisations respectively as well technological partnership agreements with JRC, EUREKA, 
CERN and ESA.   

12 

 
 
 
To assess the impact of the services provided by Network partners to their clients (SMEs), a 
5th  benefits  survey  was  launched.  About  41%  of  the  2.078  respondents  were  micro 
enterprises.    The  review  of  the  innovation  and  internationalisation  capacity  of  SME  is  the 
prevailing type of advisory services.  IPR support has triggered the highest impact on turnover 
(72%), followed by the internationalisation/innovation capacity review (63%). The impact of 
the  network  is  most  perceived  in  the  development  of  new  products,  followed  by  accessing 
new  markets  and  finding  business  partners  abroad.    About  35%  of  the  clients  acknowledge 
that  the  Network  had  a  significant  impact  in  the  revision  of  their  organisations  strategic 
approach.  

Also in 2014, the Network contributed to the Missions for Growth organised in third countries 
as well as the “Strategy for Growth Missions” in Belgium, Italy, Greece and Spain with the 
participation  of  about  4,000  companies,  and  an  average  of  30  countries  represented  in  each 
mission.  The  participating  companies  were  involved  in  approximately  8,000  business-to-
business meetings.  

The Annual conference 2014 in Torino attracted 785 participants from more than 40 countries 
with  72  speakers  on  EEN  related  topics.  It  facilitated  1.170  bilateral  meetings  on  business 
opportunities from the Network's client SME. 

Preparation of the call for proposals for the Network in COSME (2015-2021) 

Framework  Partnership  Agreements  (FPA)  were  signed  for  a  7  year  period  with  each  of 
the consortia selected by two calls for proposals.  In a second stage, selected consortia were 
invited  to  submit  a  work  programme  and  budget  for  the  first  operational  period  2015-2016, 
this led to the signature of Specific Grant Agreements (SGA) 2015-2016.  

Additional operational periods are foreseen for 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 and 2021.  
1st call- deadline was May 2014 

 
 
 

105 applications were received. 
82 consortia were selected, these consortia involve 498 organisations. 
Consortia submitted their final work programme and budget for 2015-2016. 

2nd call- deadline was October 2014 

 
 

14 applications were received. 
12 consortia (including BiH, AM, RS, UA on waiting list) were selected7. 
 These consortia involve 61 organisations (out of which 24 on the waiting list, 

pending on their decision to participate in the COSME programme). 

Cooperation  agreements  were  signed  with  31  consortia  to  set  up  Business  Cooperation 
Centers  involving  98  organisations  in  31  third  countries.  They  focus  their  activities  on 
partnership  services  and  have  to  finance  their  activities  by  their  own  resources.  Three 
additional  third  countries  joined  the  Network  after  the  third  cut-off  date  of  the  call  for 
expressions of interest (15 December 2015). 

In  2015,  we  could  observe  that  about  450.000  SME  received  services  via  the  Enterprise 
Europe Network ranging from information on EU matters, to specialised advisory services or 
facilitating  partnership between  SMEs  via  company  missions  and  matchmaking  events.  The 
objective is to increase SME's competitiveness and increase their innovation capacity via the 

7 Armenia and Serbia joined COSME in the meantime 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.000  network  staff  present  in  all  EU  regions  and  35  countries  outside  the  EU.    The  625 
participating organisations provided specialised advisory services to 60.000 SMEs on access 
to  finance,  intellectual  property  rights,  business  and  technology  reviews  and    resource 
efficiency. About 22.000 SMEs participated in matchmaking events.  These activities resulted 
in  3.190  special  achievements  reported  by  companies  and  numerous  success  stories.    The 
external  Network's  evaluation  showed  that  SME  who  used  the  Network  grew  3%  more 
compared to those who didn't. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

As a first priority, EASME had to finalise the signature all specific grant agreements. 

The governance structure of the Network is currently being reviewed, especially on the role of 
the  Network's  Steering  and  Advisory  Group  and  the  possible  successor  of  the  Consultative 
Forum. 

Monitoring and reporting requirements are being reviewed, as well as ways to further improve 
the  quality  of  the  delivered  services.  Guidelines  and  measures  to  further  increase  the 
performance of the different consortia are being put in place. 

A  new  training  plan  was  developed  taking  into  account  the  needs  of  newcomers  in  the 
Network, including the development of new methods for training staff. 

Regional linkages between Network organisations and regional players involved in SME and 
innovation support will be further developed.   

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

The signature of the specific grant agreements by EASME was finalised in 2015. 

The call for Business Cooperation Centres remains open.  There will no longer be any fixed 
cut-off  dates.  Interested  organizations  may  submit  a  proposal  whenever  their  application  is 
ready. The new training plan is being implemented as well as the new format (Steering and 
Advisory group) for operational governance. This body also discusses some strategic matters. 
The  new  monitoring,  reporting  and  linkages  with  regional  actors  started  in  2015  and  will 
continue throughout the new network. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

The  first  operational  period  under  the  COSME  programme,  covering  the  Network  Grants 
2015-2016,  was  financed  by  combining  the  budgets  of  2014  and  2015.    The  total  budget 
available is EUR 100 170 608: 

 
 

EUR 46 492 984 from the COSME WP 2014.  
EUR 53 677 624 from the COSME WP 2015.  

The budget includes the grants for the COSME participating countries8 

In total 90 consortia and 535 partner organisations are selected (4 consortia involving 24 
organisations in potential COSME participating countries may still join later on)9.  

In addition, a budget of EUR 3 million was committed for the annual conference and Network 
animation. 

8 Turkey, Moldova, Albania, FYROM, Montenegro, Iceland in 2014  
9 Two consortia (Armenia and Serbia) joined in the meantime 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
INDICATORS 

The reporting of the Network partners on the delivery refers to the reporting data received for 
the last operational period 2013-2014.  The below indicators are based on data collected from 
the final reports.  It gives an impression on the number of SMEs and the variety of services 
delivered by the about 3.000 staff in  the Network.  Services range from information  on EU 
matters,  company  visits  and  awareness  raising  campaigns  to  specialised  advisory  services, 
company missions and brokerage events. 

       Actual number of SMEs: 

Involved in Promotion & information local events:                        411.000                         

 
  For whom success stories were documented  : 
  Receiving specialised advisory services:                                           132.668 
 
 Clients in feedback related actions:   
 
Involved in brokerage events:                                                          50.719 
  For whom partnership proposals were  produced & disseminated:  19.169 
  That signed a partnership agreement:                                                5.273 
  Total workforce providing services: 1.473 full time equivalent, about 3000 staff. 

20.716      

857                                       

The Annual conference 2014 in Torino attracted 785 participants from more than 40 
countries with 72 speakers on EEN related topics. It facilitated 1.170 bilateral meetings on 
business opportunities from the Network's client SME. 

Other Network qualitative indicators: 

  Client satisfaction survey: more than 85% of client SME reported that the received 

services were  'good or very good' which is a slight increase compared to the previous 
years.  

  Staff participating in trainings & working groups: 422  
  Services most appreciated by clients  – top 3:      

o  Possibility to access new market by facilitating contacts and meeting with 

foreign companies. 

o  Opportunity to develop new products and services 
o  Wide range of services offered:  access to finance, information,  IPR, partner 

research. 

Network partners have been further stimulated to contribute to the continuous improvement of 
the Network's value chain and benefits for SMEs.  As explained above, evaluation data has 
been  obtained  by  organising  a  5th  Benefits  Survey  showing  the  economic  benefit  of  the 
services to SMEs. 

BENEFICIARIES 

Typical participating organisations are chambers of commerce, innovation agencies, regional 
development agencies, SME organisations, technology centers and universities.  

For the new Network, as a result of both calls of proposals, 535 organisations have been 
selected in the EU and 6 participating countries. Also, all regions in the EU and these 
participating countries have been covered. About 20% of the organisations are new to the 
Network. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                 
 
2.2. YOUR EUROPE BUSINESS PORTAL - YEB 

Your  Europe  Business  Portal  aims  at  being  the  reference  public  information  portal  for 
enterprises interested in cross-border activities within the European Union.  

Your  Europe  Business  provides  a  multilingual  practical  guide  that  facilitates  cross-border 
transactions.  

Your Europe Business Portal is part of the Your Europe Portal that includes a business and a 
Citizens section.  

The  portal  offers  all  the  information  citizens  and  businesses  need  to  exercise  their  single 
market rights in Europe. Its unique selling point is that it informs not only about the EU rules, 
but also how these apply in practice in each member state. The information is multilingual (in 
23 official languages of the EU   - all except Gaelic  - and in Norwegian for EU-level pages 
and in the national languages and English for the country pages).  

Your Europe offers businesses, public administrations and stakeholders a centralised and easy 
access  to  information  on  doing  business  in  Europe,  and  signposts  to  more  specialised 
information and help services, when relevant. To better address user needs, the content will 
have been completely revamped in the period 2013-2015.   

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

The  information  on  EU  rules  was  completely  revamped.  In  the  course  of  the  revamp  we 
revised  and  streamlined  the  content,  got  rid  of  jargon,  and  removed  information  about 
policies,  legislation  planned/not  yet  in  force,  promotional  material,  and  news,  leaving  only 
information  about  rules  in  force  or  of  practical  use.  This  approach,  combined  with  the 
AdWords  campaign,  led  to  an  impressive  increase  in  traffic:  in  the  first  9  months  of  2014 
there was an increase of 70% in visits, of 37% in unique visitors, and 136% more page views 
(compared to first 9 months of 2013, before the revamp). 

The revamp of national information was mostly finalised in February 2015. We replaced the 
old and obsolete national pages with new, much slimmer, national content. Unlike in the past, 
the information is provided only if the national rules differ from the EU rules.  

Also, following the launch of improved mobile versions (smartphone, phablet  & tablet), the 
share of visits from mobile devices rose in the first half of 2015. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

The communication and awareness raising on the activities on YEB needs to be increased, for 
example via social media and online campaigns.  

Strengthening  collaboration  with  the  Enterprise  Europe  Network  is  needed,  e.g.  closely 
following up the enquiry form's statistics, surveying the Enterprise Europe Network's partners 
for feedback and improvements and creating national "fiches" in collaboration with them. 

The role of the YEB portal will be assessed as an important possible basis and contributor to 
the Digital Single Gateway.   

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

The cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network is ongoing and will be re-enforced in the 
year  to  come.    The  role  of  the  YEB  in  the  Digital  Single  Gateway  will  be  clarified  as  the 
project advances in 2016. 

INDICATORS 

Since  2012,  YEB  has  experienced  a  constant  considerable  growth  in  visits,  unique  visitors 
and page  views. In  2014 YEB was  visited almost  2.5  million times,  2.5 times  more than in 

16 

 
 
2012. With 2.56 million visits by the end of 2015, this result is already 2.7% better than 2014 
figure. 

The  monthly  statistics  for  2015  so  far  show  however  a  decreasing  trend  in  both  visits  and 
page views compared to 2014 which is likely largely caused by the revamp and rationalisation 
of the national content (online since late February 2015), in the course of which the overall 
number of pages on Your Europe Business was more than halved.  

A  survey  involving  1600  users  took  place  showing  that  the  topics  most  search  for  are: 
Funding for business – 24%, Start/expand business abroad – 15% and Cross-border VAT and 
customs – 15% 

The results show that over 87% of replies indicate that the overall site rating was excellent, 
good or satisfactory. 

BENEFICIARIES 

SME and entrepreneurs who want to start cross-border activities. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
2.3. ASEAN,  CHINA  AND  MERCOSUR 

IPR  SME 

HELPDESKS 

The  ASEAN,  China  and  MERCOSUR  IPR  SME  Helpdesk  (renamed  for  ease  of 
understanding by SMEs - South-East Asia, China, and Latin America IPR SME Helpdesks) is 
a  continuation  of  existing  Helpdesks.  These  services  offer  practical  business  advice  from 
experienced professionals (lawyers, business executives, IPR investigators) in person, on-line, 
and through workshops, e-learning materials, and training.  

The service covers countries and regions, with focus on high-growth markets where there are 
particular IPR problems of importance to European SMEs. The services  are provided both 'on 
the  ground'  to  European  SMEs  already  'in  country'  and  'at  home'  in  Europe,  so  that  the 
relevant information on IPR in the regions can be delivered where it is most useful / needed 
most, to serve European SMEs efficiently and effectively. 

The  services  are  offered  in  co-ordination  with  and  in  direct  response  to  requests  from 
European  SMEs  and  their  representatives.  Services  are  co-ordinated  also  with  relevant  EU 
Member  States  SME  support  and  trade  representations.  The  Helpdesks  offer  services  that 
could not be easily provided individually by each Member State and allow to pool expertise to 
be available to any EU SME. Such economies of scale also enable to customise the training or 
advice  to  specific  sectors  or  business  models.  The  service  will  also  avoid  duplication  of 
technical contacts with the relevant countries administrations to ‘signpost’ SMEs. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

In 2015 all helpdesks are operational. The China IPR SME Helpdesk has exceeded the initial 
planning  on  queries  as  they  received  more  than  90%  of  the  yearly  target  within  6  months. 
They are on target with the publications and events, but should improve website visits. 

The impact on SMEs performance is not yet measureable. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

The helpdesks will operate till end of 2017. They all aim at increasing the number of users, 
continue to expand the cooperation with organisations that work directly with SMEs.  

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

The Call for tender was published in  June 2014, and the Grants signature in February 2015 
for China, April 2015 for South East Asia and July 2015 for Latin America. 

The projects will operate 36 months and finish their operations at the end of 2017. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

The budget of EUR 7.2 million was fully committed and split in: 

  EUR 2.6 million for the South East Asia IPR SME Helpdesk; 
  EUR 2.4 million for the China IPR SME Helpdesk; 
  EUR 2 million (for 30 months) for the Latin America IPR SME Helpdesk; 
  EUR 0.2 million for the common website operations. 

The Commission has received 1 proposal for the South East Asia IPR SME Helpdesk, 1 for 
the  China  IPR  SME  Helpdesk,  3  for  the  Latin  America  IPR  SME  Helpdesk  and  2  for  the 
common website operations.  

18 

 
 
 
 
 
INDICATORS 

For 2015 

China  

South  East 
Asia 

Latin 
America 

1. 
Inquiries                                              
2. Training and awareness events 

680 

100 

40 

30 

250 

42 

3. Individual visitors on the website 

21000 

12500 

20000 

4. Publications:  

10 

10 

40 

The China IPR SME Helpdesk performed a feedback survey. 97% of respondents found the 
advice useful and 99% would recommend the services of the helpdesk. 

BENEFICIARIES 

  South-East Asia - Development solutions ltd. (lead),  Euro-Cham Vietnam, TEBA 

(Thai-EU Business Association), EBN.  

  China - Development solutions ltd. (lead),  EU Chamber of Commerce in China, EBN. 
  Latin America - Universidad de Alicante (lead), EUROCHAMBRES, Instituto 

Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI-PT), Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios 
Superiores de Monterrey, EUROCHILE, Instituto Nacional De Propiedad Industrial 
(INAPI), IDS-Instituto Dannemann Siemsen. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.4. SME INTERNATIONALISATION  

The Portal 

The  SME  Internationalisation  portal  aims  to  provide    a  'single-entry  point'  that  guides  the 
SMEs  on  their  way  to  internationalisation.  It  offers  SMEs  tailored  and  easily  accessible 
information  on  how  to  expand  their  business  in  third  countries.  It  integrates  information  on 
existing  support  services,  measures  or  other  existing  sources  at  EU,  national  and  regional 
levels.  It  provides  one  single-entry  portal  for  SME  wanting  to  go  international  completes 
information on the existing support measures at EU and national level as well as the necessary 
procedures  for  internationalisation.  Synergies  with  other  COSME  activities  like  the  EEN  or 
YEB will be sought for the future. 

The contract of EUR 425,000 (out of a budget of EUR 500 000) was implemented after a call 
for tender for which the Commission received one offer. 

The Portal was launched in June 2014 as a free of charge and open to public database 
containing some 300 “service providers” located both in the EU and in 25 countries and 
providing 600 support services.  The added value compared to other EU websites helping 
SMEs in their business and to go international is that in gathers in one place many service 
providers present in the country of origin of the European SME, the service providers 
present in other EU member states, some of them offer their support to the respective SME, 
the support in  the non-EU target country and support funded by the EU. 

It had 19.890 visitors and in 2014 and 108.633 page views.  In 2015, it increased to 
20.671,visitors and 126.455 page views.  

SME conference, Napoli, Italy, 1-10-2014 

The Italian Presidency of the Council (2nd semester 2014) proposeded to organise on the eve 
of the SME Assembly (1st October 2014)10 an open forum on SME internationalisation and 
Euro-Mediterranean Industrial Cooperation. 

The  aim  of  the  conference  was  to  gather  views  and  expertise  on  the  best  methods  to 
internationalise SMEs, to share good practice and to identify policy opportunities at European 
level.  Member  States’  representatives,  stakeholders,  business  support  organisations 
participated in the event. 
The  work  done  since  the  9th  Ministerial  meeting  on  Euro-Mediterranean  industrial 
cooperation  (February  2014)  was  acknowledged.  Moreover,  the  assessment  of  the  business 
climate  in  South  Mediterranean  countries,  which  was  jointly  drafted  by  the  European 
Commission  (DG  GROW),  the  Organisation  for  Economic  Cooperation  and  Development 
(OECD) and the European Training Foundation (ETF) was presented and discussed. 

Around 70 persons attended the conference and representatives of the private sector actively 
participated in all discussions throughout the day and were the main contributors to the forum 
on  SME  internationalisation.  The  event  also  allowed  exchanges  of  good  practices  among 
entrepreneurs as well as an open dialogue between delegates from the private and the public 
sectors. 

The conference cost 33.000 euros from an intitial budget of EUR 100 000. 

European footwear: more than fashion  

10 See action 3.13 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
The aim of  the project is the promotion of EU  manufactured footwear in  third  countries, in 
this pilot project the country chosen is Kazakhstan. The country was identified in cooperation 
with  EU  footwear  industry  stakeholders  on  basis  of  the  positive  trends  of  consumption 
expenditure for light industries products. The country was identified also as an entry point to 
the Eurasian Union. The project will support the entry of European footwear in new markets, 
while contributing to the recognition of distinctive and high quality European footwear. 

The objectives of the Project are: 

  Promote the image of European footwear in new emerging consumer markets via an 

awareness campaign; 

  Provide relevant information for SMEs about local business structure and culture and 

distribution networks and, 

  Support the internationalization of European small and medium footwear companies 

in third countries, in Kazakhstan. 

The project consists of the following actions: 

  Execution of a Pre-market support study and development of a data bank of potential 

partners at the local Kazakh market. 

  Selection of about 30 EU SMEs identified by their respective national associations in 

accordance with the profiles identified in the study. 

  Organisation of a promotional trade mission of these companies in Kazakhstan (Alma 

Ati). 

  Organisation of a promotion communication campaign for the EU footwear industry. 

Two  offers  were  received  during  the  call  for  tenders  and  the  selected  contractor  is  the 
consortium  represented  by  European  Profiles  S.A.  (Greece).  The  contract  was  signed  on  8 
June 2015 for a value of EUR 133 250 and will finish on 6 May 2016. The 28 January 2016 
the steering committee has adopted the interim report. The trade mission took place in March 
2016.    Footwear  companies  from  all  COSME  participating  countries  were  invited.   36 
footwear  companies  (from  IT,  GR,  SP,  AUT,  PT,  NL,  PL)  participated  in  a  road  show  in 
Kazakhstan signing 24 partnership agreements out of 39 business negotiations.  At least 163 
B2B  meetings  were  organised  by  these  companies  with  98  visitors  from  Kazakhstan  (78 
companies, 10 public entities and 10 media).  

36%  of  the  EU  participants  declared  high  satisfaction  in  participating  the  event  and  45% 
declared medium satisfaction.  The interest in participating to similar events in third countries 
was 70% (high interest) while 24% expressed medium interest. 

21 

 
 
 
 
2.5. EU-JAPAN 

CENTRE 

FOR 

INDUSTRIAL 

COOPERATION 

This  action  promotes  the  development  of  EU-Japan  cooperation  to  improve  the  access  of 
European  businesses  into  the  Japanese  market  by  providing  them  with  the  needed  data  on 
local conditions and by acquainting them with commercial and industrial practises which EU 
businesses  are  facing  in  Japan.  It  also  promotes  the  training  on  production  technologies, 
quality  management  and  innovation,  aiming  at  improving  the  competitiveness  of  EU 
businesses. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT IN 2014 
- The ‘Vulcanus in Japan’11 programme has the following objectives: 

  Provide Japanese companies with skilled European science and engineering graduates 

as trainees to help them in the development of their business with Europe; 

  Create a pool of future European executives who will be well placed to help their 

future employers in their business relations with Japan; 

  Familiarise the future management personnel in EU’s industry with Japanese’s 

business culture, its economic structure and its institutions. 

The intake of participants in “Vulcanus in Japan” increased from 25 to 44, and the EU-Japan 
Centre  succeeded  to  recruit  21  Japanese  host  companies  as  compared  to  the  previous  13  to 
receive all participants as interns in their companies. “Vulcanus in Europe” also succeeded to 
increase the number. of participants from 15 to 17. 

-  Improved  information  services  and  helpdesk:  for  enhanced  business  support,  two  new 
services for SMEs were established:  

1)  the  “Japan  Tax  and  Public  Procurement”  (JTPP)  Helpdesk  received  21  inquiries, 
performed  Public  Procurement  Market  Scans  servicing  40  EU  SMEs,  organised  2 
seminars, arranged supplier qualifications for one EU SME and had over 2,000 views 
on its website in the first months of service.  

2)  The Keys To Japan service selected  3 EU SMEs respectively  from  Malta, France 
and Germany among a total of 19 applicants which were sponsored for the draft of a 
completed business plan for market entry or expansion into Japan. 

-  The  50th  Human  Resources  Training  Programme  (HRTP),  a  new  session  of  the  training 
programme, was organized  in May 2014 as  a 5-week training programme to  train EU SME 
executives on ‘how to succeed’ in Japan. 

  The number of EU applications remained constant (38 applications among which 36 

from SMEs). 

  HRTP 50 (12 May - 6 June 2014) gathered 14 participants from 10 Member states, 

among which 13 SMEs. 

  85% of the participating SMEs have benefited from the additional incentive12 after 

11 Vulcanus in Europe, is the same for Japanese students- supported by the Japanese side of the Centre. 

12 SMEs can apply for:  EUR 2 500 scholarship towards living expenses (paid during the HRTP course); EUR 
500  additional  scholarship  (paid  after  participation  in  the  HRTP  course)  if  they  submit  a  profile  through 
“Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)” partnering service. SMEs can choose EEN closest contact point and will be 
introduced by the EU-Japan Centre to the selected partner. SMEs are free to not take advantage of EEN service 
but  therefore  will  NOT  be  eligible  for  the  additional  EUR  500  grant.  Eligibility  will  be  checked  through  the 
‘scholarship request – self-assessment declaration’ form that will be sent to selected SMEs before participating 
in the HRTP course. 

22 

 
 
                                                 
having used the Enterprise Europe Network services. 

  11 participants attended the 5th optional week of B-to-B individual meetings, during 

which 41 company visits and 28 individual meetings were organised. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

The  services  and  work  provided  are  foreseen  to  continue  under  forthcoming  COSME  work 
programmes. 

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

Ad hoc grant without call for proposals, according to legal basis which established the Centre 
and its role: Council Decision 92/278/EEC of 18 May 1992. The committed budget amounted 
to EUR 2 628 578. 

INDICATORS 

  Number of seminars organised per year and attendance: 11 seminars (8 in Tokyo & 3 

in Brussels) with 1344 participants 

  Number of participants to the executive training programmes: 223 participants 
  Number of enquiries addressed to the Centre and satisfactory replies provided: 212 

enquiries received, 146 satisfactory 

  Number of students participating in Vulcanus and their level of competence: 

"Vulcanus in Japan" (Sept 2013 to Aug 2014) gathered 25 participants from 12 
Member States. The next session (Sept 2014 to Aug 2015) gathered 44 participants 
from 17 Member States. 

  "Vulcanus in Europe" (April 2014-March 2015) gathered 17 participants from Japan.  
  Level of awareness about the Centre: In addition to the participants mentioned above, 
about 681.000 persons have been in contact directly or via the internet links with the 
Centre. 

BENEFICIARIES 

Institute for International Studies and Training, Japan. 

23 

 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                         
 
2.6. FACILITATING  ACCESS  TO  LIGHT  RPAS13 

REGULATION 

Light RPAS are today regulated at national level. A number of Member States have already 
regulation in place. Other Member States are developing it and later on, a European regulation 
may enter into force.  

This  situation  leads  to  a  lack  of  awareness  about  safety  regulations  by  SMEs  wishing  to 
operate business in other European countries. The difficulty to access the relevant regulation 
is often such that the SMEs prefer to operate outside Europe. 

The  measure  should  develop  the  tools  (such  as  handbook,  tutorials,  advice  service,  web 
portal, etc.) deemed necessary to provide an easy access to all information relevant to RPAS 
operations in the 28 EU countries.  

It  will  be  adapted  to  light  RPAS  operators  which  are  mainly  operated  by  SMEs  and 
entrepreneurs with limited aviation background. The measure will not only cover national and 
European safety regulation, but also provide information related to other important issues like 
privacy and data protection or insurance requirements. It will also provide information about 
the evolution of the regulation. 

The call COS-WP2014-2-10 was postponed towards the end of 2014 in order to be better in 
line  with  the  on-going  regulatory  developments.  Proposals  now  have  been  evaluated,  the 
selection procedure is completed and the contract was signed end of September 2015. 

The initial budget of € 1 million has been fully committed. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

The project was kicked-off upon signature of the contract  at the end  of September 2015. In 
order to contribute to raise drones' operators' awareness about the regulatory framework they 
have to comply with in each MS, the project is developing the DRONERULES.EU website. 
A  first  version  of  the  website  has  been  released  mid-June  2016.  Two  other  releases  are 
foreseen  to  gradually  incorporate  all  the  requested  services  (analyses  of  regulations, 
handbook,  tutorials,  advisory  service).   Considering  that  the  first  version  of  the  website  has 
been  released  mid-June  2016,  it  is  too  early  to  assess  its  impact  or  have  performance 
indicators. 

 IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

  Starting date of the contract: 1st October 2015 
  End of the project: 30 September 2017  

BENEFICIARIES 

Foreseen  beneficiaries  are  SMEs,  entrepreneurs,  start-ups,  hobbyists,  authorities,  general 
public. 

13 Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2.7. INDUSTRIAL POLICY COOPERATION 
Study on technical textiles world markets structures and opportunities 

The  objective  is  to  enhance knowledge  of  EU  companies  active  in  technical  textiles  about 
worldwide export opportunities (with particular attention to Brazil, China, ASEAN countries 
and Korea) 

The technical textile market accounts about 30% of the textiles consumption in weight terms 
worldwide.  The  main  characteristic  of  the  sector  is  the  use  of  high  end  technologies  and 
innovation  in  order  to  enhance  products  properties  and  functionalities  such  as  strength, 
durability,  elasticity,  that  can  respond  to  huge  variety  of  uses  automobile,  construction, 
medicine,  to  name  a  few.  Based  on  the  end  uses,  we  can  stratify  the  sector  into  11 
subcategories:  mobitech,  buildtech,  homeotic,  indutech,  clothtech,  meditech,  agrotech, 
protech, packtech and others. 

The  most  important  factor  governing  market  attractiveness  is  the  versatility  of  a  technical 
textile  product.   The  sector  can  regenerate  the  mature  market  of  classical  textiles  as  its 
products  are  manufactured  by  fibres,  yarns,  filaments  or  more  elaborated  products  such  as 
non-wovens. 

Technical applications have a more positive outlook than most other fibres and according to 
forecasts, it is expected to grow with the pace of 5% by weight per year.  In terms of exports, 
the  sector  becomes  more  and  more  present  in  export  performances  of  all  the  EU  countries 
evolving from 33% of textile exports in average, in 2011 to 36% in 2013. 

Traditionally  North  America  and  Europe  were  the  main  markets  of  technical  textiles  but  in 
recent years Asia Pacific and Latin America became active drivers of the market. 

The  study  will  explore  further  EU  export  opportunities  in  these  countries  characterized  by 
industrial  development  and  by  increasing  needs  for  using  sophisticated  raw  materials  in  the 
industrial  process,  and  other  industrial  uses,  such  as  the  technical  textiles.   In  addition 
purchasing  power  perspectives  are  increasing.  For  this  reason,  the  sector  has  resisted  due 
mainly to its export performance, during the recent years of financial crisis. 

The study aims to provide: 

  Analysis the revenue share of main EU competitors in the respective markets; 
  Analysis the detailed market value chain on the markets to identify market dynamics 

for upstream and downstream segments; 

  Develop  a  strategy  making  process  for  EU  suppliers  and  present  a  comprehensive 

assessment of stakeholders strategies. 

Two offers were received and the contract was signed in June 2015 with Gherzi van Delden 
GmbH (Germany) for EUR 300 000and will end in September 2016. 

Intermediate results of the interim report, submitted on December 2015, included: 

  an overview of country-specific consumption/production scenarios and export/import 

trends;  

  a priority list of products for further market analysis, covering twelve technical textile 
application segments and the trade conditions as well as barriers for EU producers. 

The consultant is performing currently "in situ" SWOT analysis of the technical textiles sector 
and markets conditions, in the four target countries. 

25 

 
 
 
 
Mediterranean Young Talent (YOTA) in European Fashion Incubator 

Objectives: 

  Host  4  young  designers  from  the  Mediterranean  partner  countries  in  a  European 

incubator; 

  Strengthen relations between the EU and MED fashion clusters; 
  Share knowledge and competencies between designers. 

Two  offers  were  received  and  a  service  contract  with  the  London  College  of  Fashion  was 
signed on 18 May 2015 for an amount of EUR 100 000. 

The  successful  designers,  selected  via  a  transparent  process,  are  given  the  opportunity  to 
spend  up  to  six  months  at  the  Centre  for  Fashion  Enterprise  (CFE)  in  London,  benefitting 
from  the  incubator’s  renowned  business  support  programme  as  well  as  access  to  a  wide 
network  of  experts  and  industry  members,  to  help  their  business  develop.  To  allow  for  the 
availability of studio space at Centre for Fashion Enterprise, the intake of designers from the 
YOTA  programme  has  been  divided  into  two  cohorts.  Cohort  one  has  an  intake  of  two 
designer  businesses  for  six  months.  The  designers  selected  were:  Bashaques  (Turkey)  and 
Muslin Brothers (Israel). 

They  completed  in  Q2 2016  their  6  months  stay  in  the  fashion  incubators,  including  all  the 
consecutive steps that proceeded and followed their stay.  

Overall  it  has  been  a  very  successful  project  with  a  great  learning  experience  for  both  the 
designers  and  the  host  institution.  Greatest  value  added  of  the  project  are  new  skills  the 
designers  acquired  and  new  international  connections  developed  in  London  which  would 
allow them to expand their own businesses internationally. For instance, Designers acquired 
necessary  skills  to  expand  in  their  business  international,  in  particular  soft  skills  such  as 
personal business skills" how to talk to industry". 

Both  designers  are  interested  to  set  up  (at  least  part  of)  their  businesses  and  whole  sale  in 
London in order to be able to sell internationally, since local consumers from MED region are 
more interested to buy international brands. 

Key challenge for the young designers was to find the balance between time spent in fashion 
incubator while keeping their own businesses running at back home. The host institution had 
to invest significant additional time for the young designers as needed lots of practical support 
on day to day basis. 

The second wave of talents (programme from April 2016 to October 2016) also comes from 
Israel  (Maya  Bash:  maya@mayabash.com)  and  Turkey  (Ece  Gözen:  ece@ecegozen.com). 
They have just started their programme in April in London.  

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. IMPROVING  FRAMEWORK  CONDITIONS  AND 

COMPETITIVENESS 

3.1. E-SKILLS 

FOR 

COMPETITIVENESS 

AND 

INNOVATION 

Several key actions were foreseen for closing the skills gap to ensure that Europe has the e-
leaders  and  ICT  practitioners  it  needs  to  spark  enduring  competitive  advantage.  In  2014,  it 
was planned to publish three calls for tenders: 

1.  

2.  

3.  

Organisation of a communication and awareness campaign "e-Skills for Jobs" 

Development and implementation of a European framework for ICT profession 

Promotion of e-leadership skills in Europe 

The  two  calls  on  "ICT  profession"  and  "e-Leadership"  were  published  in  March  2015. 
Services contracts were signed in July 2015. 

The two services contracts on "ICT profession" and "e-Leadership" which started in August 
2015 will be closed in January 2017. 

The interim report of the "e-Skills for Jobs" campaign (2015-2016) has been released in 
January 2016.  

After spectacular declines in ICT education enrolments and graduate numbers in the first 
years of the new millennium, the Commission developed in 2007 a long term e-skills strategy 
to reverse this trend. Since 2010, the number of ICT students has been growing again. The 
good news today is that there are signs that the rate of growth is now quicker than expected.  
The “e-Skills for Jobs”  campaigns contributed to this achievement and mobilised very large 
numbers of countries and stakeholders in synergy with the "Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs". 
In 2015-2016, it covers 30 countries and involves 384 organisations. At the end of 2015 over 
800 events gathering more than 300,000 participants have been organised. Media coverage 
and visibility on the Internet and social networks has been extensive. In total, it is estimated 
that over 115 million people were exposed to the campaign. Close cooperation has also been 
established with the EU Presidencies in the past campaigns. High-level events on e-Skills for 
Jobs had already been organised with EU Presidencies: 6 May 2014 in Athens (Greece), 30 
October 2014 in Rome (Italy). The first high-level event of the 2015 campaign took place in 
Riga on 13 March 2015 (Latvia), followed by 15 December 2015 in Luxembourg; 16 March 
2016 in The Hague (The Netherlands). The final high-level event will take place on 18 
October 2016 in Bratislava (EU Slovakian Presidency). These consistent efforts triggered 
Member States to develop new appropriate policy initiatives. 
The employment growth rate of ICT practitioners averaged 4% growth per annum since 2006 
(more than twelve times higher than the average growth rate of total employment). There was 
an excess demand of 262.000 ICT professionals in Europe in 2014 (more than two times the 
annual number of ICT graduates). The gap may reach up to 756.000 until 2020.  While 
increases in demand for management and business architecture level skilled ICT professionals 
and core ICT practitioners are very strong, there is a decreasing demand for lower skilled - 
ICT technician types of jobs.  
The European e-Competence Framework is a standard across Europe for ICT practitioners' 
skills and competences. It is maintained by the European Standardisation Committee (CEN). 
In the Riga Declaration (13 March 2015), stakeholders confirmed their support to the 
development and the implementation of a European Framework for the ICT profession based 
on four building blocks: European e-Competence Framework; European ICT foundational 

27 

 
 
 
 
body of knowledge; European recognition of ICT certifications and qualifications; and shared 
professional ethics". The development of the European Framework for the ICT profession is 
making good progress (interim report released in May 2016) and results will be presented at a 
high-profile conference on 6 December 2016 in Brussels. 
Leadership skills for digital and key enabling technologies (KETs): demand for leadership 
skills is closely coupled with highest skilled digital jobs, resulting in a demand for e-leaders 
of 620,000 in 2015 and increasing to 776,000 in 2020. The EU will need over 200,000 
additional e-leaders by 2020. Pan-European guidelines for new curricula have been developed 
using stakeholder input and analysis of best practices in cooperation with Universities, and 
business schools. Demand for KETs skills in 2013 equalled an estimated total of 3,300,000 
KETs professionals. Highly-skilled KETs employment accounts for 55% of total 
employment, followed by 37% medium-skilled employment and 8% low-skilled employment. 
Between 2013 and 2025 an additional 953,000 KETs professionals are needed. A potential 
gap in the range of approximately 21,000 to 83,000 highly-skilled KETs employees per year 
is estimated. An interim report has been released in May 2016. Detailed statistics and forecast 
as well as an agenda for the development of the leadership skills for digital and key enabling 
technologies will be presented in January 2017 at a high-profile conference in Brussels.  
New developments in 2016 
All these activities on e-skills have delivered very positive results and triggered considerable 
political interest. Digital skills will be a priority of the Commission's Communication on 
"New Skills Agenda for Europe" to be adopted in June 2016. The Commission will announce 
a new strategy to develop digital skills in Europe building on the achievements of the "Grand 
Coalition for Digital Jobs" (2013) and the Communication on "e-Skills for the 21st Century" 
(2007). This new strategy will aim at promoting a large digital talent pool and ensuring that 
all European citizens and the labour force are equipped with adequate digital skills. 

 The proposal for a European Framework for ICT Professionalism will provide a blueprint for 
maturing the ICT profession in Europe and a major detailed contribution to the activities of 
the European Standardisation Committee (CEN) and its CEN Technical Committee 428 on e-
Competences and ICT Professionalism. The final report of the e-Skills for Jobs campaign will 
include a detailed description of all the activities and an-depth evaluation of its impact.  
Together with the results of the work on Leadership Skills for Digital and Key Enabling 
Technologies they will contribute to the implementation of the "New Skills Agenda for 
Europe" (adopted on 10 June 2016) and the implementation of a new comprehensive EU 
strategy on digital skills which will be announced in the "New Skills Agenda". 
The "e-Skills for Jobs" campaign will end in December 2016. 

The statistics and information concerning the indicators will be available at the end of  2016. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

1. Service Contract – open call for tenders – E-Skills for Jobs campaign: EUR 1 987 042 with 
Digitaleurope and European Schoolnet. 

2. Service Contract – open call for tenders - Development and Implementation of a European 
Framework for the ICT profession: EUR 451 718 with Development and Implementation of a 
European Framework for the ICT profession: Cap Gemini Nederland B.V and Ernst & young 
Financial Business Advisors s.p.a and IDC Italia SRL. 

3. Service Contract – open call for tenders - Promotion of e-Leadership Skills in Europe: EUR 
499 890 with Empirica Gesellschaft Fur Kommunikations- Und Technologiesfoschung MBH. 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
3.2. CLUSTER INTERNATIONALISATION PROGRAMME 

FOR SMES 

The  programme  focusses  on  the  promotion  of  cluster  internationalisation  where  interested 
consortia have the opportunity to develop a joint international strategy and support SME 
internationalisation  beyond  Europe,  especially  in  emerging  thematic  areas.  It  also 
contributes to  facilitate international cluster cooperation through the further development 
of the European Cluster Collaboration Platform. 

The measure envisages the following actions: 

Action 1. Cluster Go International 

Strand  1)  Supporting  preparatory  actions  for  the  establishment  of  new  European  Strategic 
Cluster Partnerships (ESCPs).  

industries,  thereby  supporting  growth  and  employment 

The  ESCPs  are  composed  of  cluster  and  business  network  organisations  from  EU  Member 
States and COSME participating countries. They develop and implement a joint strategy to 
promote  cross-sectorial  cooperation  and  to  facilitate  SME  internationalisation  in 
emerging 
in  Europe.  The 
partnerships  are  expected  to  develop  a  joint  ‘European’  strategic  vision  with  a  global 
perspective  and  common  goals  towards  specific  third  markets.  This  could  include  support 
services  for  the  identification  of  strategic  partners  across  Europe,  development  of  a  legal 
representation,  preparation  of  a  joint  branding  and  marketing  strategy  and  a  roadmap  for 
cooperation. 

Strand 2) Supporting the further development and running of established European Strategic 
Cluster Partnerships  

This  could  include  further  preparatory  actions  such  as  tailored  analysis  and  fact-finding 
missions or assistance for opening of a joint office abroad, operational actions involving the 
cluster  SMEs  such  as  the  organisation  of  international  cluster  matchmaking  missions  and 
follow-up  actions  providing  assistance  for  the  preparation  of  joint  business  and  cooperation 
plans proposals. 

Action  2.  Support  for  international  cluster  and  business  network  cooperation  and 
promotion of European Strategic Cluster Partnerships through the further development 
of the European Cluster Collaboration Platform. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

No results or impact in 2014 as the call for proposals for Action 1 and the call for tenders for 
Action  2  were  published  in  December  2014.  Twenty-nine  proposals  were  received  and  12 
were awarded. 

The service contract started in September 2015 for a period of two years and contributed to: 

  The  setting-up  and  further  development  of  the  European  Cluster  Collaboration 
Platform  (ECCP)  to  facilitate  cluster  cooperation  within  the  EU  and  to  help  clusters 
accessing international markets. A completely renewed web-platform was launched in 
March  2016  (see  at:  www.clustercollaboration.eu).  It  represents  the  main  instrument 
for European cluster organisations to profile themselves, exchange experience, search 
for  potential  partners  for  transnational  cooperation  within  and  beyond  Europe,  and 
participate  in  major  international  matchmaking  events.  All  European  cluster 
organisations  are  invited  to  register  their  profile  (currently  276  organisations  are 
registered). 

  The  organisation  of  the  EU-US  Cluster  Matchmaking  Event  at  Hannover  Messe  in 
April 2016 by DG GROW and the U.S. Department of Commerce and in collaboration 

29 

 
 
with  EEN. The  event  brought  together  over  70  EU  and  US  clusters  and  Economic 
Development Organisations  and contributed to set-up over 140 face-to-face meetings 
between EU-US organisations. The event was introduced by a policy discussion with 
policy  leaders,  including  EU  Commissioner  Elżbieta   Bieńkowska,  US  Deputy 
Secretary  of  Commerce  Bruce  Andrews,  and  State  Secretary  of  Germany  Federal 
Ministry  for  Economic  Affairs  and  Energy  Matthias  Machnig.  The  matchmaking 
sessions  allowed  the  participants  to  discuss  opportunities  for  R&D  and  business 
partnerships,  enquire  about  potential  for  bilateral  cluster  to  cluster  Memoranda  of 
Understandings  to  be  concluded,  plan  for  forthcoming  study  visits  and  soft  landing 
packages for cluster SMEs. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

Action 1: The selection of proposals and signature of grant agreements were finalised in the 
3rd and 4th quarters 2015 and the selected projects will then implement their activities over a 
24-month period during 2016-2017. 

The  1st  call  "Clusters  Go  International"  contributed  to  support  the  establishment  of  15  co-
funded  European  Strategic  Cluster  Partnerships-Going  International  (ESCP-4i)  gathering  88 
cluster  organisations  across  21  EU  countries  and  reaching  out  to  more  than  10.000  SMEs 
across Europe (with grants starting on 1 January 2016). The Partnerships are active in various 
industrial  and  cross-sectoral  areas  including  health,  aerospace,  mobility  and  logistics, 
agrifood,  energy,  marine  and  environment,  packaging,  materials  and  photonics,  ICT, 
construction and sports. The partnerships target cooperation with third countries' economies. 
Most partnerships have already identified their target markets, of which the main ones include 
Brazil,  Canada,  China,  India,  Japan,  Mexico  and  USA.  The  full  list  is  available  at: 
http://www.clustercollaboration.eu/escp-list 

Action 2: The selection of the service provider and signature of service contract was finalised 
in 3rd quarter 2015 and the action will be implemented over a 24-month period during 2015-
2017. 

The next Cluster matchmaking events planned to be organised by the ECCP platform in 2016 
include: 

  Mexico-EU Cluster and Business Matchmaking Event, at Green Expo in Mexico City 
on  25-27  October  2016  in  cooperation  with  the  Low  Carbon  Business  Action  in 
Mexico financed under FPI of EEAS. Mission open to clusters and SMEs from Europe 
and  Mexico  in  the  field  Renewable  energy,  Energy  efficiency,  Waste  management, 
Wastewater management; 

  EU-Brazil  Cluster  and  Business  Matchmaking  Event  at  Pollutec  trade  fair  in  Lyon 
(FR) on 29 Nov. – 1 Dec 2016 in cooperation with the Low Carbon Business Action 
in  Brazil  financed  under  FPI  of  EEAS.  Mission  open  to  clusters  and  SMEs  from 
Europe  and  Brasil  in  the  field  of  energy  efficiency  in  buildings,  solid  waste 
management, renewable energy (solar, biomass) and biogas; 
Intra-EU  cluster  matchmaking  event  in  Brussels  on  30  November  2016,  prior  to  the 
European Cluster Conference. 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

Combined  budget  of  EUR  3.75  million  +  EUR  0.650  million  (from  2014  budget  leftovers) 
available for Action 1. Budget of EUR 1.25 million for Action 2. 

30 

 
 
 
 
3.3. CLUSTER EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME 

The action will implement benchmarking and training activities addressed to consortia of 
cluster  organisations  and  business  networks  in  COSME  participating  countries,  willing  to 
engage in strategic collaboration on a joint industrial project with specific challenges, in order 
to help them:  

1. Improve their management practices and market, competitive advantages and value-
chain analysis capacities; 

2.  Provide  top  quality  services  to  their  SMEs,  especially  on  partnering,  creativity, 
integration, internationalisation, exploitation of key enabling technologies (KETs), IPR 
protection and resource efficiency.  

The  programme  will  contribute  to  further  promote  cluster  excellence  and  develop  more 
world-class clusters in COSME participating countries through well-tested benchmarking 
methodologies and training activities.  

Through  this  action,  it  is  expected  that  a  high  number  of  SMEs  in  clusters  and  business 
networks  will  receive  more  professional  business  support  services  from  their  respective 
organisations. 

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

Launch of call for proposals: 22 July 2014 
Re-launch of call for proposals: 13 May 201514 

New Submission deadline: 16 June 2015 

Signature of grant agreements: November - December 2015 

Start of selected projects: January 2016 

End of selected projects: October 2017 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

The initial budget of EUR 1.25 million provided by the work programme has been reinforced 
by  EUR  250  000,  in  due  respect  of  the  20%  flexibility  margin  allowed  by  the  financing 
decision. 

Seventy-eight  proposals  were  received  for  the  first  publication  and  31  for  the  second.  6 
proposals were awarded. 

All the outputs of the actions are foreseen to be delivered in the second half of 2016 and 
2017. 

BENEFICIARIES 

Consortia of cluster organisations and business networks in COSME participating countries: 
minimum 3 countries, among which 1 EU Member State 

14 The call was re-launched in 2015 to correct a difference of interpretation of eligibility criteria. 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.4. PROMOTION  AND  SUPPORT  OF  THE  EUROPEAN 
STRATEGY  FOR  KEY  ENABLING  TECHNOLOGIES 
(KETS) 

To  support  the  implementation  of  the  European  Strategy  for  KETs,  as  outlined  in  the 
Commission  Communication  of  June  2012,  it  was  planned  to  sign  in  2014  two  service 
contracts covering the following domains of activity: 

1.  Analysis  of  industrial  value  chains  in  strategic  areas:  Identifying  current  and  future 
application areas, existing industrial value chains and missing competences in the EU, in the 
area of additive manufacturing (3D Printing).   

The aim is to detect gaps with regard to important future applications and to lay the ground 
for joint demonstration platforms across EU regions to accelerate market uptake of 3D printed 
applications. The specific contract under a framework contract with Österreichisches Institut 
für Wirtschaftsforschung (WIFO) was signed in April 2015. In October 2015, a first Interim 
Report  was  delivered.  The  finalisation  of  the  study  is  expected  towards  end  of  2016.  The 
study is foreseen to be performed between April 2015 and September 2016. 

The value of the contract is EUR 297 800. 

2. Study on the dual-use potential of Key Enabling Technologies:  

The  study  identifies  technologies  with  the  greatest  potential  for  applications  in  the  defence 
sector and, on the other hand, identifies also technologies developed by the EU defence sector 
that could be further developed for civil use. The study also assesses the strategic importance 
of the selected technologies in terms of non-dependence on extra-EU sources for technologies 
critical for the security and/or the economic growth of the EU. The open call for tenders was 
published in December 2014. The contract was signed in July 2015 with a consortium formed 
by D'Appolonia, CEA, TNO and Oakdene Hollins (consortium).  

The study is foreseen to be performed between July 2015 and July 2016. 

The total value of the specific contract is EUR 249 706 covering all tasks executed.  

The performance indicators for both studies will be available during 2016. 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
3.5. ORGANISATION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  MULTI-
STAKEHOLDER  FORUM  (MSF)  ON  CORPORATE 
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - CSR  

As a crucial milestone of the review process for the 2011-2014 Communication on CSR and 
the preparation of the subsequent strategy (2015-2020) on responsible business, the EU Multi-
Stakeholder Forum on CSR successfully took place in Brussels on 3-4 February, 2015. 

The event, which is the EC's flagship CSR conference held every five years, attracted more 
than  90  speakers  and  over  500  representatives  from  business,  civil  society,  EU  Member 
States,  academics  and  international  organisations.    It  demonstrated  the  Commission's 
continued  political  commitment  to  CSR  based  on  the  underlying  principles  of  the  existing 
strategy and cooperation across sectors and stakeholders. 

The conference was considered informative and successful by all stakeholders. 

The contract was signed on 15 December 2014 for a budget of EUR 254 363. 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.6. IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE  ACTION  PLAN 

“CONSTRUCTION 2020”  

EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTION OBSERVATORY 

The  observatory  is  a  3-years  action  that  will  provide  European  policy  makers  and 
stakeholders with regular analysis and comparative assessments of the market conditions and 
policy developments related to the competitiveness and sustainability of construction sector in 
EU-28.  The  analysis  and  evaluations  will  support  the  exchange  of  experience  between 
Member  States  and  stakeholders  regarding  the  definition,  implementation,  monitoring  and 
assessment  of  the  impact  of  policy  measures  related  to  competitiveness  of  construction 
enterprises, including the engagement with sustainable development objectives. 

The main deliverables are: 

•  Individual  country  profiles  for  each  Member  State  regarding  the  market  conditions  and 
trends  as  well  as  national/regional  strategies  related  to  the  five  thematic  priorities  of 
Construction 2020; 

•  Fact  sheets  on  individual  national  and/or  regional  policy  measures  related  to  the  thematic 
priorities of Construction 2020, identifying the process of implementation and monitoring, the 
likely  socio-economic  effects  on  the  various  actors  in  the  construction  sector  and  the 
environmental impacts on society; 

• Semi-annual analytical reports based on the individual country profiles and fact sheets, and 
other  relevant  sources,  which  clearly  identify  issues  and  formulate  policy  recommendations 
with respect to the socio-economic and environmental performance of the construction sector; 

• Development, update and promotion of dedicated webpages. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

The call was published in July 2014 and the contract was put in place in March 2015. 

The contract was signed for EUR 279 975 with PWC, CARSA, London Economics and CBT. 

The European Construction Sector Observatory website is on-line as of December 2015 on 
Europa (http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/construction/observatory/ ). It provides currently 
information about 10 countries (United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, France, 
Spain, Germany, Romania and Hungary). During the first 3 months of operation, the website 
was visited 944 times and information was downloaded 1141 times. This has been achieved 
with no other dissemination activity than the existing website.  
The information is also being used as a basis within the context of the EU Semester to analyse 
national developments with respect to Country Specific Recommendations. An analytical 
report has also been prepared about the investment landscape in construction markets with 
respect to the 10 countries included currently in the website. This report provides specific 
examples of policy practices that have influences the investment conditions for the 
construction sector in the analysed markets. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

As the methodological framework for the data analysis, the webpages development and for 
the promotion of the observatory is finalised, the number of country profiles and fact sheets 
available on the webpages will increase. In particular, it is expected that the communication 
strategy developed during 2015 – 2016 will significantly strengthen the impact and use of 

34 

 
 
 
 
information. It is expected that the ECSO will cover all EU-28 Member States by March 
2017. 

3.7. FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS ON THE COMMUNICATION 
ON  SUSTAINABLE  COMPETITIVENESS  OF  THE 
CONSTRUCTION SECTOR 

The  contract  provided  the  Commission  services  with  the  necessary  support  for  the 
implementation, monitoring and assessment of the Construction 2020 Action Plan and related 
High  Level  Forum  and  thematic  groups.  Support  was  provided  for  the  preparation  and 
organisation of two rounds of Thematic Groups (10 meetings in total) and communicating and 
engaging  with  stakeholders  (preparation  of  agendas,  the  invitation  and  briefing  of  speakers, 
the  review  of  material,  the  mobilisation  of  stakeholders,  the  moderation  of  meetings,  the 
briefing  of  and  support  to  meeting  chairs,  the  support  to  speakers  during  presentations,  the 
reporting and the addressing of ad hoc requests). 

Moreover, the contractor assisted the EC in policy analysis and the development of indicators 
to track the progress achieved by the Construction 2020 governance structure. The contractor 
addressed  also  ad  hoc  requests  for  analysis  of  subject  matters  regarding  international  trade, 
sustainable  development,  circular  economy  and  resource  efficiency,  energy,  social  policy, 
investment and real estate. 

The contract was established for the duration of one year with Ecorys Nederland BV and fully 
implemented during 2014. A budget of EUR 200 000 was originally foreseen and awarded for 
EUR 184 350. 

The High Level Forum and thematic groups created within the context of Construction 2020 
provided  stakeholders  from  the  construction  sector  with  a  better  overview  of  EU  policy 
developments  and  with  the  possibility  to  contribute  to  policy  preparation.  In  particular, 
participation  allowed  stakeholders  to  express  their  opinions  regarding  property  valuation 
('Energy  and  resource  efficiency'),  dual  training  and  apprenticeships  ('Skills  Agenda'),  the 
recycling  of  construction  and  demolition  waste  ('Circular  Economy'),  the  sectorial  fitness 
check on construction ('REFIT') and access to non-EU construction markets. 

Stakeholders  gave  also  their  input  on  the  review  and  monitor  EU  policies,  standards  and 
instruments  relevant  to  the  construction  sector,  in  particular  regarding  the  energy  efficiency 
legislation and product environmental footprint. 

3.8. SUPPORTING  STUDY  FOR  THE  FITNESS  CHECK 

ON CONSTRUCTION SECTOR 

The  Fitness  Check  on  construction  will  assess  the  impacts  of  EU  legislation  on  the 
competitiveness and sustainability of the construction sector.  

The  subject  matter  of  this  support  study  is  to  evaluate  in-depth  the  impacts  of  different 
legislative  texts  related  to  the  Internal  Market  and  Energy  Efficiency  on  the  construction 
sector.  The  study  should  also  consider  representative  case  studies  for  construction  services, 
products and professions with significant cross-border activity. The mapping should include, 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
inter alia, the cumulative burden arising from inconsistency, lack of coherence or duplication 
of  legislative  provision.  Positive  externalities  as  well  as  beneficial  synergies  will  be  also 
further brought forward. Finally, the study will identify synergies and inefficiencies within the 
group  of  legislative  texts  selected,  covering  both  the  costs  and  benefits  attributable  to  EU 
legislation and national transposition.  

The invitation to  tender was published the 18/11/2014.  The contract was signed on 26 May 
2015 for EUR 400 000 with Economisti Associati together with Centre for European Policy 
Studies  (CEPS),  Milieu  Ltd,  Building  Performance  Institute  Europe  (BPIE)  and  Danish 
Building Research Institute (DBRI) - Aalborg University and is planned to end in June 2016. 
The  results  of  the  study  will  feed  into  a  Commission  Staff  Working  Document  that  is 
expected to be presented by the Commission at the end of 2016. 

The analysis is on-going. The legal texts to be analysed were discussed in September 2015. 
First  interviews  with  sector  associations  have  been  launched.  The  public  stakeholder 
consultation will be launched beginning of 2016 and the draft final results will be discussed in 
April/May 2016. 

3.9. MEMBERSHIP  IN  THE  INTERNATIONAL  RUBBER 

STUDY GROUP (IRSG) 

The Participation of the EU in the IRSG as a member (Council Decision 2012/283/EU entails 
the payment of an annual contribution of up to EUR 125 000 EUR. 

Participation  in  the  IRSG  supports  the  competitiveness  of  the  European  tyre  &  rubber 
industry, by rendering more predictable the developments on the world market of an essential 
input – natural rubber. the IRSG is going to carry out other projects, such as the projection of 
changes in rubber demand given the impact of new tyre legislation and the impact of expected 
changes in butadiene supply (brought about by the increased use of natural gas as feedstock 
for chemicals to the detriment of oil) on the production of synthetic rubber.  

3.10. 

MEMBERSHIP 

INTERNATIONAL 
STUDY GROUPS FOR NICKEL,  COPPER,  LEAD  AND 
ZINC 

IN  THE 

With the membership, the Commission has access to data and material collected and produced 
by the study groups and the right to, participate in the meetings and vote in the committees.  
The information and data collected feed into Commission's activities and policy making. 

The membership fees to these study groups total EUR 30 613. 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.11. 

RESOURCE  EFFICIENCY  SELF-ASSESSMENT 

TOOL FOR SMES 

The  development  of  a  self-assessment  tool  would  enable  European  SMEs  to  increase  their 
understanding of their resource efficiency performance and to know the measures that could 
increase their resource efficiency.  

It  would  provide  all  European  SMEs  with  an  easy-to-use  common  tool  that  also  enables 
benchmarking  of  SME  resource  efficiency  across  countries  and  sectors.  The  European  tool 
would  be  based  on  an  existing,  proven  tool  and  methodology  that  have  the  scope  to  be 
successfully adapted to a Europe-wide context. 

The two-year service contract will deal with the adaptation and translation of the tool and the 
methodology but also with the development of a European Database with information on the 
effectiveness  and  cost-efficiency  of  different  types  of  resource  efficiency  improvements 
(collected from SME self-assessments) as well as testing of the tool with SMEs. 

The Tool is part of the actions foreseen under the Green Action Plan for SMEs adopted on 2 
July 2014. 

The  action  is  part  of  COSME  climate-related  measures,  foreseen  in  article  15  of  the 
COSME regulation. 

The  work  of  the  contractor,  a  Consortium  led  by  Technopolis  Group  Belgium  started  in 
January 2015 ending in January 2017 and it is too early to measure impacts or results. 

During 2015, the tool will be developed and the database established In 2016, the tool will be 
extensively  tested  with  SMEs  from  different  sectors  across  EU  Member  States.  It  will  be 
launched on-line by the European Resource Efficiency Excellence Centre in early 2017.  

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

The value of service contract is EUR 383 950, and the in-house IT development had a budget 
of EUR 100 000. 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.12. 

SME PERFORMANCE REVIEW 
The SME performance review focuses on the implementation of the Small Business Act for 
Europe and consists of annual reports, the SBA country fact sheets and studies.  

The  2015  annual  report  includes  an  overview  of  the  size,  structure  and  importance  of 
European  SMEs,  outlines  the  major  trends  and  provides  a  summary  of  recent  policy 
developments.  It also includes a specific chapter dedicated to the contribution of SMEs to job 
creation.  

The SBA fact sheets (35) provide more in-depth information on the country level. They are 
structured according to the 10 principles of the SBA and are based on core indicators which 
relate the individual Member States to the Union average.  

A tender was launched in August 2014 for the next cycle of the SBA country fact sheets and 
the  annual  EU-SME  report  2014/2015.  Three  tenderers  submitted  offers  which  had  been 
evaluated  in  the  meantime.  The  contract  was  signed  with  the  Consortium  CARSA  in 
November  2014  for  EUR  894  740.  Works  started  immediately  thereafter  with  the  final 
delivery date of the outputs being the SME assembly in Luxembourg on 20 November 2015. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

The final results of the SME Performance Review 2014/2015 were published during the 2015 
SME assembly on 19 November in Luxembourg. They comprise of the final versions of the 
Annual report and 35 SBA country fact sheets. 

Intended impact: 

Influencing SME  policy makers:  The report and the fact  sheets  are directly  presented and 
discussed with the MS delegates in a dedicated working group on "policy-relevant research on 
entrepreneurship and SMEs"; the nature of the discussion with delegates during the working 
group  as  well  as  during  the  SPR  production  process  and  post-release  would  establish  the 
impact on policy-making (complemented by additional issues such as the referencing of the 
SPR in national policy documents, etc);  

The  SME  performance  review  provided  information  to  the  Competitiveness  Council  in 
February 2016 dedicated to fast-growing firms and scale-ups. 

It also contributes to evidence-based policy making and economic policy coordination aimed 
to achieve key Europe 2020 goals. It feeds European Semester Report, the Country Specific 
Recommendations  and  the  country  visits  and  discussions  with  the  member  States.    For 
example,  in  the  last  mission  to  Slovenia,  the  the  Slovene  national  authorities  paid  a  lot  of 
attention to SMEs and to the issues stated in  the 2015 fact sheets.  In subsequent meetings, 
they submitted their action plans for addressing the issues stated as the SME policy priorities 
in the SBA fact sheet. 

Outreach to the wider public: the SPR 2014/2015 was, as in the years, before launched with 
a  high-profile  press  conference  during  the  SME  assembly;  a  maximal  media  coverage 
reflected  in  a  high  number  of  press  articles,  social  media  references  as  well  as  his  and 
downloads from the SPR website would be a potential indicator of the outreach impact; 

Influencing  secondary  policy  research  and  informing  stakeholders  by  making  the  complete 
data set and policy database publicly available to researchers; subsequent third-party articles 
citing the results of the SPR would be an expected impact in this domain. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

38 

 
 
 
 
The  SME  Performance  Review  is  repeated every  year  with  a  duration of  12  months,  so  the 
next cycle for the SPR 2015/2016 has already started. 

Meetings of the expert group on SME policy research discussing the SME annual report and 
the SBA country fact sheets: June 2015 and January 2016 in Brussels  

BENEFICIARIES 

SME Policy-makers on the EU as well as national level, press and general public as well as 
SME stakeholders and researchers (see also 3). This measure contributes to the production of 
valuable, up-to-date data and analysis on EU-wide- as well as MS-level on latest SME trends 
and SME policy developments as a basis for evidence-based decision-making in this area, in 
particular with a view to the SBA implementation. 

39 

 
 
 
 
3.13. 

FOLLOW-UP  AND  MONITORING  THE  SMALL 

BUSINESS ACT (SBA) IMPLEMENTATION 
The measure follows-up the implementation of the SBA and in particular aims to improve its 
governance  by  monitoring  EU  and  Member  State  activities,  ensuring  and  organising  the 
systematic exchange of best practice through events, online tools and experts meetings.  

In particular it covers the SME Envoys network meetings, the implementation of the SME 
Envoys  network  work  programme,  the  SME  Week  and  the  annual  SME  Assembly 
including the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPAs). It will furthermore cover 
meetings  of  the  SBA  National  Contact  Points  (Sherpas  to  the  SME  Envoys),  the  SME 
Week coordinators and the EEPA single points of contact. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

SME Envoys/SME Assembly 

  4 Meetings of the Envoys; subjects: licensing, e-government, clusters, 2nd chance; 
  SME Assembly (1-3 October 2014), Naples: 840 participants; 88% of delegates found 

the SME Assembly useful or very useful); 

  SBA implementation conference: March 2015, Athens. 

European SME Week 

  1,091 local events organised in 2014 within the SME Week umbrella campaign. 
  A  joint  meeting  of  the  SME  Week  and  European  Enterprise  Promotion  Awards 
(EEPA) coordinators to shape and launch the 2015 editions of SME Week and EEPA 
exercise (28 November 2014). 

European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPAs) 2014: 

  31  countries  participated  in  the  2014  edition  -  all  28  EU  Member  States  as  well  as 
Iceland, Serbia and Turkey(a record: 30 countries in 2012; 28 countries in 2013); 

  358 national entries (402 in 2012, 317 in 2013); 
  58 national winners submitted to European level; 
  Award  ceremony:  2  October  2014,  Naples  (SME  Assembly)  the  seven  winners,  12 

runners up and three special mentions were announced. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

SME Envoys/SME Assembly 

  Two meetings of the SME Envoy network in 1st and 2nd quarters 2015; 
  The  continuation  of  the  SME  Envoy  network  activities  (including  the  preparation  of 
the report to the Competitiveness Council); meetings already being scheduled for 2016 
(1st quarter 2015, The Hague); 

  Meeting of the SBA Sherpas (1st quarter 2015); 
  SME Assembly 2015 to  be held from 18 to  20 November in  Luxembourg  under the 

auspices of the Luxembourg Presidency. 

European SME Week: 

  Broadening the scope of European SME Week events by integrating local debates on 

the Single Market issues relevant to SMEs; 

  Meeting of SME Week national co-ordinators to be held on 23 October 2015. 

European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPAs): 

  The  2015  Award  ceremony  to  be  held  at  the  SME  Assembly  in  Luxembourg  (19 

40 

 
 
November 2015); 

  Meeting of EEPA single points of contact planned for January 2016. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

  Meetings (SME Envoys, SBA National Contact Points, SME Week coordinators and 

the EEPA single points of contact): EUR 200 000 committed  

  SME Assembly in Naples and SBA implementation conference in Athens: EUR 1 413 

000. 

INDICATORS 

1.Number of meetings organised: 

 

 4  SME  envoys  meetings  in  2014  (plus  two  meetings  in  2015-  topics:  SME  test, 
Access to Finance); 

  1 SME Assembly; 
  1 joint SME Week co-and EEPA single points of contact meeting. 

2. Number of participants: 

  SME Assembly: 840; 
  Envoy network every time around 60; 
  SME Week/EEPA meeting 49 attendees. 

3. Timely dissemination of the results:  

  Envoy network: all presentations and other documents are disseminated to participants 

and rendered public via the working group register of the Commission; 

  SME Assembly: all results are rendered available to all participants in real time via the 

conference application; 

  SME  Week:  publication  of  events in  the  database  immediately  after  the  approval  by 

national co-ordinator; 

  EEPA:  publication  of  the  jury  proceeding  results  within  one  week  after  the  jury 

meeting;  

4. Progress achieved in the implementation of the measures in the 10 key areas of the SBA:  

  10 good practices identified within the EEPA 2014 process (7 winners and 3 special 

mentions) 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
3.14. 

SMALL  BUSINESS  ACT  IMPLEMENTATION: 

OUTREACH TOOLS 

The objective is to provide communication and information tools to promote the SME policy 
and  its  implementation  in  the  Member  States  and  inform  SMEs,  SME  stakeholders  and 
relevant public authorities about SME policy, economic developments and available support 
at EU and Member States level, including the quantitative the SME performance review. 

The measure includes: 

  Monitoring  implementation  of  SBA  and  SBA  review  &  promotion  (i.e.  Business 

Planet TV magazine 4th season); 

  Small Business portal; 
  Outreach  activities  SME  policy  and  SBA  implementation  -  brochures,  campaigns 

(reported in a separate fiche). 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

 

 Business Planet (Euronews TV magazine), the 4th season started on 12 June 2015 (5 
magazines broadcast so far); 

  Small Business portal: update of the content; publication of 12 success stories in 21 

languages (on-going activities under the specific contract); 

  Publication of guidebooks on support to SME policy from structural funds. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

  Business  Planet:    The  continuation  of  the  4th  season  (19  more  episodes  to  be 
produced  and  broadcast  until  June  2016);  possible  continuation  with  the  5th  season 
(depending on the availability of the new FPA). 

  Small  Business  portal:  Terms  of  references  for  the  call  for  tender  for  editorial 
maintenance.  Further  revamping  of  the  small  business  portal.  New  contract  for 
editorial maintenance): November 2015-November 2016. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

  5 May 2015 – signature of a specific grant agreement with Euronews (EUR 628 729). 
  Small  Business  portal:  a  new  contract  for  EUR  60  000  signed  in  the  4th  quarter  of 

2015. 

INDICATORS 

1.  Timely  production  of  tools  (web-based,  audio-visual  and/or  printed  leaflets,  social  media 
campaigns: all Business Planet magazines produced and broadcast according to schedule. 

2.  Effective  dissemination  of  tools  and  use  in  major  events:  Business  Planet  magazines 
disseminated  via  the  Small  Business  portal  and  EC  social  media;  broadcast  of  the  Business 
Planet magazines envisaged during the SME Assembly in Luxembourg. 

42 

 
 
 
 
3.15. 

ENHANCING 

EUROPEAN 

TOURISM’S 

COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY 
In  line  with  the  Lisbon  Treaty,  the  actions  launched  under  COSME  2014  aimed  at 
contributing  to  the  objectives  of  the  Europe  2020  Strategy,  especially  by  focusing  on  the 
enhancement of the competitiveness and sustainable growth of the tourism sector in Europe. 

 The  supported  activities,  implementing  the  actions  announced  in  the  Commission 
Communication on Tourism15 of 30 June 2010, aimed in general at: 

  Encouraging,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  creation  of  a  favourable  environment  for  the 

development of undertakings in the tourism sector; 

  Promoting trans-national cooperation, particularly by: the exchange of good practice, 
by  increasing  the  demand,  diversifying  the  offer  and  improve  quality  of  tourism 
supply, and also by mainstreaming tourism in the EU policies and funds.  

More  specifically,  the  following  activities  have  been  implemented  in  2014  under  the  five 
main operational objectives: 

INCREASING  TOURISM  FLOWS 

1) 
SEASONS 
This  action  aimed  at  facilitating  the  increase  of  tourism  flows  during  the  low  and  medium 
seasons between EU Member States and/or non-EU inbound markets, targeting in particular 
specific groups, such as seniors (notably through specific active and healthy ageing activities) 
and youth. 

IN  LOW/MEDIUM 

127  proposals  (from  a  total  of  736  entities  –  public  &  regional  administration,  European 
tourism  associations,  SMEs)  were  registered  following  the  call  for  proposals  launched  in 
October 2014. Given the high number of proposals submitted, the award decision/signature of 
the contacts has been postponed to July-August 2015 and the implementation of the projects 
started  between  1st  July  and  1st  September  2015.  8  projects  have  been  co-financed  (6  with 
focus on seniors target group and 2 on youth). Projects implementation will last from 12 to 18 
months, hence the impact of this action will be known at the beginning of 2017.  

2)  DIVERSIFYING  THE  EU  TOURISM  OFFER  AND 
PRODUCTS 
This action was implemented through several calls for proposals:  

Support  to  projects  developing  and  promoting  sustainable  transnational  tourism 
products. 

83  proposals  (from  a  total  of  556  entities  –  public  &  regional  administrations,  European 
tourism associations, SMEs) were registered following the call for proposals launched in July 
2014,  showing  the  great  interest  of  different  tourism-related  stakeholders  in  developing  and 
promoting  sustainable  transnational  tourism  products  focusing  on  sport  or  wellness  activity 
tourism  related  to  coastal  or  maritime  or  mountain  or  rural  tourism.  Given  the  high  number  of 
proposals,  the  award  decision/signature  of  the  contacts  took  place  in  May  2015  and  the 
implementation  of  the  projects  started  in  June  2015.  Given  the  available  budget,  5  projects 

15 COM(2010) 352/3, http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52010DC0352:EN:NOT   

43 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
have been co-financed for the duration of maximum 18 months. The impact of this action will 
be known at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017. 

Support to European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) – selection  

20 proposals from National Tourism ministries/organizations have been registered following 
the call for proposals launched in April 2014, showing the interest of 20 countries to select the 
European  Destination  of  Excellence  in  this  edition  of  the  EDEN  competition  focusing  on 
tourism and local gastronomy.  Due to the setting up of the new IT environment for COSME 
contacts  managed  by  EASME,  the  award  decision/signature  of  the  contacts  has  been 
postponed to March 2015 and the implementation of the projects started in March 2015 (for 
some  countries  retroactively  January  2015).  18  projects  have  been  co-financed  for  the 
duration of 18 months (Greece has decided to step out and did not sign the grant agreement 
while Romania has decided to participate at its own costs, without the EU co-funding). The 
direct impact of this action will be achieved by the end of 2015 when 18 new selected EDEN 
destinations  will  be  known  and  in  addition  will  be  awarded  at  European  level  during  the 
EDEN Award Ceremony in Brussels (16 December 2015). 

Diversification of tourism offer through synergies with creative and high-end industries  

11  proposals  (from  a  total  of  99  entities  –  public  &  regional  administrations,  European 
tourism associations, SMEs) were registered following the call for proposals launched in June 
2014,  showing  the  great  interest  of  different  stakeholders  from  the  field  of  tourism  in 
developing  and  promoting  tourism  offer  based  on  creative  and  high-end  industries.  One 
project,  CHIELI  (Chocolate  Heritage  in  European  Life  and  Identity  –  The  European 
Chocolate Way), was selected for co-financing. It aims at creating, developing and promoting 
a  new  European  itinerary,  connecting  tourism  and  the  high-end  industries  producers  of 
excellent chocolate in 6 Member States (Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, UK).  The 
grant  agreement  was  signed  in  June  2015  and  the  implementation  of  the  project  started  in 
August 2015. The project's duration is 12 months. The impact of this action will be known at 
the end of 2016. 

3)  ENHANCE  TOURISM  QUALITY,  SUSTAINABILITY, 
ACCESSIBILITY, SKILLS, INFORMATION AND INNOVATION 
The main actions implemented under this objective consisted of: 

  The production of contents for the ICT and Tourism Business Support Portal;  
  organisation of events, meetings and actions targeting public and private stakeholders 
as well as tourists to spread information about funding opportunities, policy initiatives 
and other actions developed for the benefit of the sector. 

A call  for tenders  was launched to select a contractor for the production of contents  for the 
Tourism Business Portal. 

On 31 December 2014 a call for tender was published on e-TED for a service contract aimed 
at  stimulating  digital  entrepreneurship  by  raising  awareness  on  ICT  potentialities  and 
enhancing  digital  skills  of  European  businesses  in  tourism.  The  specific  objectives  were:  to 
assess  via  a  survey  the  degree  of  digitalisation  of  tourism  SMEs  and  support  the  SME's  in 
acquiring  the  right  digital  skills,  to  facilitate  the  understandings  of  latest  trends  and 
Portal 
opportunities 
content 
to 
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tourism-business-portal/index_en.htm) 
provide a platform for exchange of views between the stakeholders active in digital tourism. 
The contract was signed in October 2015 and would be implemented during the following 24 
months. 

optimised 

Business 

Tourism 

through 

and 

of 

44 

 
 
A number of events and meetings were organised to inform public and private stakeholders as 
well as tourists on funding opportunities and policy initiatives benefiting the tourism sector, 
among others:  

  European Tourism Forum (in cooperation with the Italian Presidency), Naples, 30-31 

October 2014; 

  European Tourism Day, Brussels, 1st December 2014; 
  9th Meeting of the Network of European Destination of Excellence, 21 October 2014; 
 
Info  Day  on  EU  funding  for  Tourism  presented  the  EU  programmes  and  support 
available  under  the  2014  -  2020  financial  framework  for  initiatives  in  the  tourism 
sector, Brussels, 20 March 2015;  

  Several targeted experts' meetings on, among others, the European Tourism Indicator 
System  (ETIS)  for  sustainable  management  of  tourist  destinations,  low/medium 
season  tourism,  clusters  on  coastal  and  maritime  tourism,  IT  and  tourism,  cultural 
heritage etc.  

4)  IMPROVING  SOCIO-ECONOMIC  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE 
SECTOR 
The main actions implemented under this objective consisted of: 

The annual Eurobarometer survey on “Preferences of Europeans towards tourism”; 

The  2015  Eurobarometer  survey  provided  data  on  the  attitudes  of  tourists  towards  holidays 
and  contributed  to  the  tourism  socio-economic  knowledge  base  with  regards  to  trends  in 
tourism demand. It is an important forecasting instrument for the following tourism seasons.  
The  results  of 
in  March  2015  and  are  published  on: 
this  survey  were  ready 
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/vto/eurobarometer  

The Virtual Tourism Observatory website (VTO) 

In  order  to  enhance  and  update  the  content  of  the  platform  a  specific  work  contract  under 
DIGIT FWC (ESP-DESIS III) was signed in  December 2014 with  an Intramuros expert  for 
the duration of 1 year, starting 1st of March 2015. The following actions are currently carried 
out: 

  Revamp  of  the  menu  and  the  landing  page  with  the  insertion  of  a  set  of  interactive 

charts  

  Development of a new indicator to measure and benchmark the degree of seasonality 

in the tourism sector (Gini index); 

  Develop  a  new section collecting links on the main policies that  apply to  tourism  in 

the EU; 

  Production of short reports on themes relevant to the programme of the Unit; 
  Perform ad hoc research to feed infographics to be used in social-media campaigns; 
  Brief ad hoc analysis to support the unit policy initiatives in tourism; 
  Monitoring of the VTO site analytics. 

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/vto/. 

Production of the “Tourism Trends and Policies 2016” report  

The  bi-annual  agreement  with  OECD  foresees  a  new  joint  EU-OECD  publication  on 
"Tourism  Trends  and  Policies  2016"  which  will  be  produced  as  a  contribution  to  the 

45 

 
 
 
 
international  tourism  policy  debate  and  will  focus  on  transport  and  tourism  and  on  the 
emergence and impact of the sharing economy in tourism. The cooperation allows for those 
EU  member  states  and  candidate  countries  which  are  not  members  of  the  OECD  to  be 
included  in  the  scope  of  the  publication.  Moreover  papers  and/or  reviews  on  the  following 
topics are foreseen in the framework of this cooperation: Innovative financing approaches to 
support  tourism  SMEs;  Large-scale  events  as  catalysts  for  tourism,  local  development,  jobs 
and  growth.  The  implementation  of  the  ad  hoc  agreement  started  in  January  2015  for  the 
period of 2 years.  

5)  INCREASING  EUROPE'S  VISIBILITY  AS  A  TOURIST 
DESTINATION  AS  WELL  AS  OF 
ITS  DIVERSE 
DESTINATIONS 
The main actions implemented under this objective consisted of: 

An international tourism communication campaign  

The contract for an information and communication campaign on the European Commission's 
support for tourism in the EU was signed on 10/08/2015. The duration of the contract will be 
of 18 months. 
The information campaign shall contribute to promoting the image of Europe as a collection 
of diverse, sustainable and high quality tourist destinations and experiences towards selected 
target groups of potential tourists. The main target will be the European citizens who will be 
motivated to take their holidays in the EU and possibly in more than one country. Part of the 
budget will be devoted to address potential travellers from third countries. 

Promotion of European Cultural Routes in cooperation with the Council of Europe (ad 
hoc agreement with the Council of Europe). 

The  agreement's  main  objective  is  to  contribute  to  the  touristic  visibility  and  quality  of 
European  Cultural  Routes  certified  by  the  Council  of  Europe  or  preparing  for  certification. 
The concrete activities to be implemented during 18 months of implementation of the ad hoc 
grant  starting  in  September  2015  are  mainly  about  promotion  and  capacity  building 
(improving  the  online  map  of  cultural  routes;  blogger's  trips;  specific,  thematic  training 
courses  for  route  managers;  marketing  study  to  identify  routes  sufficiently  developed  for 
promotion  with  tour  operators).  This  action  is  the  follow-up  of  three  previous  joint 
management  agreements  implemented  together  with  the  Council  of  Europe  under  a  specific 
Preparatory  Action  promoted  by  the  European  Parliament  (Promotion  of  European  and 
transnational tourism products with special emphasis on cultural and industrial products).  

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

To increase tourism flows in low season, 8 new projects (public-private partnerships) have 
been  co-financed  with  partners  from  17  countries.  In  terms  of  impacts,  the  projects  will 
contribute  to  increasing  the  number  of  nights  spent  by  EU  tourists  in  other  Member  States 
during the low season.  

To  diversify  the  EU  tourism  offer  and  products,  5  new  projects  (public-private 
partnerships)  have  been  co-financed  to  support  and  promote  development  of  sustainable 
transnational  tourism  products  with  partners  from  15  countries.  16  SMEs  are  directly 
involved in the consortia receiving grants. In terms of impacts, the projects will contribute to 
diversifying European offer of transnational tourism products. In the long terms, the projects 
can trigger an increase in the number of tourists travelling transnationally. 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
18  destinations  have  been  selected  as  European  Destinations  of  Excellence  (EDEN)  in 
gastronomy  from  18  participating  countries.  In  terms  of  impacts,  this  initiative  increased 
awareness  about  and  gave  additional  visibility  to  lesser  known/emerging  destinations  and 
gastronomic tourism offers in Europe.  

To  enhance  tourism  quality,  sustainability,  accessibility,  skills,  information  and 
innovation,  the  actions  implemented  and  events  organised  contributed  to  the  increased 
awareness  about  and  visibility  of  the  key  opportunities,  policy  initiatives  and  other  actions 
developed  for  the  benefit  of  the  sector.  The  positive  feedback  from  numerous  stakeholders 
confirms the usefulness of events and educational tools (guides, webinars) made available for 
the tourism sector.   

The  actions  to  improve  socio-economic  knowledge  of  the  sector  received  a  positive 
feedback  from  tourism  industry  stakeholders  /  national  tourism  administrations  on  quality, 
relevance and added-value of documents produced confirms the importance of this action for 
the sector.  
61 reports/studies were included in the VTO knowledge base.   
The web analytics on the usage of the VTO (January 2015-to date), more precisely: 

- Visits: 4 871 (of which 1 534 returning visits). 
- Page views: 17 763, of which the most visited: country fact sheets (1 898). 
- Actions per visit: 3.7. 
-  Downloads  (unique):  203  of  which  the  most  downloaded:  Flash  Eurobarometer 

Report (26). 

To  increase  Europe's  visibility  as  a  tourist  destination  as  well  as  of  its  diverse 
destinations,  numerous  communication  events  have  been  organised  e.g.  through  support  to 
Council of Europe's programme on cultural routes.  
Moreover the integrated campaign to promote tourism in the EU was launched in June 2016.  
The campaign shall contribute to promoting the image  of Europe as a collection of diverse, 
sustainable  and  high  quality  tourist  destinations  and  experiences  towards  selected  target 
groups of potential tourists. The main targets are the European citizens who will be motivated 
to  take their  holidays  in  the  EU.  It  is  expected the  campaign  will  reach  directly  5.7  million 
people.  Number  of  articles  in  the  media  and  traffic  increase  to  EC  tourism  portals  is 
monitored as the campaign is currently ongoing. Part of the budget will be devoted to address 
also  potential  travellers  from  third  countries,  by  the  promotion  of  Europe  as  a  tourist 
destination at an international fair in the USA in January 2017. 

More information on past and on-going work as well as outputs can be accessed through the 
website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/index_en.htm 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

Following  the  publication  of  calls  for  proposals/  calls  for  tenders  funded  through  the  2014 
COSME Work Programme, the implementation of many actions is now ongoing and others in 
Autumn 2015. Most of the results and deliverables were submitted during the last quarter of 
2015 and throughout 2016.  

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION  

The total budget committed in 2014 amounts to EUR 8 052 474. 

More specifically: 

 

Increasing tourism in low/medium seasons  - call for proposals  EUR 1 794 595 (EUR 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
1 800 000). 

  Sustainable transnational thematic tourism products - call for proposals EUR   1 112 

251 (EUR 1 150 000). 

  EDEN EUR 633 748 (EUR 750 000). 
  Diversification  of  tourism  offer  through  synergies  with  creative  and  high-end 

industries – call for proposals EUR 400 000 (EUR 400 000). 

  Enhance tourism quality, sustainability, accessibility, skills and innovation – EUR 164 

 

925 (EUR 180 000). 
(Events  &  meetings)  Enhance  tourism  quality,  sustainability,  accessibility,  skills, 
information  and  innovation  –  Information  and  awareness  on  funding  opportunities, 
policy initiatives and other actions developed for the sector EUR 358 918 (EUR 346 
000). 

  Eurobarometer Survey EUR 536 457 (EUR 500 000). 
  Production of the “Tourism Trends and Policies 2016” report (under an ad hoc grant 

agreement with OECD) EUR 497 217 (EUR 500 000). 

  Virtual Tourism Observatory website (VTO) content provision and management EUR 

126 083 (EUR 272 000). 

  An international tourism communication campaign advertising Europe as a unique set 

 

of very different destinations EUR 2 148 280 (EUR 2 150 000). 
Increasing  Europe's  visibility  as  a  tourist  destination  as  well  as  of  its  destinations 
(support  to  Council  of  Europe's  programme  on  cultural  routes)  EUR  280  000  (EUR 
280 000). 

INDICATORS 

At  this  stage  of  implementation,  data  is  available  only  on  some  indicators.  Other  indicators 
could be measured only after the end of the implementation period after evaluating the final 
results of the actions. 

1. Increasing tourism flows in low season  

  Number of co-financed projects: 8 
  Number of countries participating in transnational cooperation projects: 17 
  Number  of  created  public-private  partnerships  and  number  of  stakeholders 

participating in transnational cooperation projects: 8 

2. Diversifying the EU tourism offer and products 

  Number of co-financed projects: 5 
  Number of countries participating in transnational cooperation projects: 15 
  Number  of  SMEs  directly  involved  in  the  development  of  transnational  cooperation 

projects: 16 European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) 

  Number  of  emerging  destinations  selected  as  destinations  of  excellence 
gastronomy: 18 winners and up to 4 runners-up per 18 participating countries 

in 

  Number of participating countries: 18 

4. Improving socio-economic knowledge of the sector 

  Number of reports/studies (co-)produced and included in the VTO knowledge base: 61 

(Eurobarometer survey).  

  Web analytics on the usage of the VTO (January 2015-to date), more precisely: 

o  Visits: 4,871 (of which 1,534 returning visits). 
o  Page views: 17,763, of which the most visited: country fact sheets (1,898). 
o  Actions per visit: 3.7. 

48 

 
 
 
o  Downloads (unique): 203 of which the most downloaded: Flash Eurobarometer 

Report (26). 

BENEFICIARIES 

National  administrations  in  charge  of  tourism,  regional  administrations,  European  tourism 
associations, SMEs, not for profit associations, public and private entities etc. 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.16. 

IMPLEMENTATION  OF  ACTION  PLAN  "A 
MORE EFFICIENT DEFENCE SECTOR FOR A MORE 
SECURE EUROPE" 

Action 1: To assess critical raw materials for the EU defence sector 

An administrative arrangement with the Joint Research Centre was signed in September 2014 
for EUR 150 000. On 30/10/14 the JRC launched a preliminary study aimed at collecting data 
needed for the assessment that has being carried out in 2015. 

The work on raw materials & defence has advanced well following a close coordination of the 
activities  between  the  JRC  and  DG  GROW.  The  JRC  is  expecting  to  deliver  a  final  report, 
including  operational  and  policy  recommendations  by  end  September  2015,  setting  out  a 
methodological approach on how to assess criticality of raw materials in the area of defence 
as well as a first assessment and indication of a way forward. 

Action 2: The dual-use support guide,  

Released  by  the  Commission  in  October  2014,  into  French,  German,  Italian  and  Spanish 
languages, the publication and dissemination of the guide-book is a key action in support of 
SMEs and Regions in the action plan. 

The guide was disseminated at: 

  European Seminar on regions and dual-use technologies in Bordeaux on 11-12 June 

2015. 

  The EDA seminar on ESIF in Rome on 5-6 October 2015. 
  The conference with the region of Andalucía on 27-28 October 2015. 

All available language versions are available on: 

 http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/defence/industrial-policy/smes/index_en.htm.  

The  guides  are  being  well  received  by  defence-related  clusters  and  SMEs.  The  translations 
had a cost of EUR 9 951.  

Action  3:  Workshop  on  "Strengthening  Europe's  industry:  dual-use  and  smart 
clustering".  

This  action  fits  with  the  wider  objective  to  raise  awareness  about  dual-use  funding 
opportunities at EU level to relevant stakeholders. 

Over  120  participants  attended  the  event  organised  in  Brussels  on  25/11,  together  with  the 
European  Defence  Agency  (EDA)  and  the  European  association  of  development  agencies 
(EURADA). A first session outlined how COSME, H2020 and the European Structural and 
Investment  Funds  (ESIF)  could  be  used  in  support  of  dual-use  projects.  A  second  session 
allowed stakeholders from defence-related clusters to share their experiences and associated 
challenges.  A  third  session  focused  on  ways  to  develop  dual-use  opportunities  at  EU  level 
with  interventions  from  ECSEL  JU,  Enterprise  Europe  Network  and  EDA.  The  event  was 
concluded with a successful B2B session which consisted of about 60 pre-arranged bilaterals. 

The  workshop  revealed  a  huge  interest  from  defence-related  clusters  and  SMEs  in  dual-use 
funding  opportunities  at  EU  level.  It  provided  great  insight  and  thus  helped  to  shape  the 
workshops  the  Commission  has  been/is  organising  in  2015  in  Bordeaux  and  Seville.  EDA, 
with Commission involvement, also organised a follow-up meeting on 26/11/14 to brainstorm 
on possible follow-up actions. 

The organisation of the event totalled EUR 9 871.  

50 

 
 
 
 
3.17. 

HIGH-LEVEL  GROUP  ON  ADMINISTRATIVE 

BURDEN 

The High Level Group on Administrative Burdens (HLG AB) was set up in 2007 as part of 
the Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU. Its mandate ran until 
October 2014, with a focus on administrative burden reduction, especially for SMEs, and on 
efficient  public  administration.  This  measure  therefore  continued  on-going  work  under  the 
EIP and for the last year (2014) has been financed by the COSME programme. 

Under its last mandate the HLG AB looked into the national implementation of administrative 
burden  reduction  measures  in  order  to  examine  whether  the  reductions  in  administrative 
burdens  have  reached  businesses  'on  the  ground',  identified  best  practice  and  looked  for 
further possibilities to implement EU legislation in the least burdensome way. 

The Commission also paid for studies and the development of IT tools on issues of regulatory 
burden  reduction,  including  on  the  best  methods  to  measure  the  costs  and  benefits  of  EU 
regulation, testing these methods and the impacts of EU regulation, with a particular focus on 
SMEs. 

At tend of the mandate on 31 October, 2014, a final report has been published confirming all 
the work done, opinions and reports produced within its period of office. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION  

  A budget of EUR 150 000 has been committed to cover expert's reimbursements for 
travels, accommodation allowances and all the costs linked to the organisation of the 
meetings and events. A remaining amount of EUR 35 000 was left and de-committed 
in 2015. 

  A budget of EUR 200 000 has been committed for maintenance and development of 
IT tools, such as the Administrative Burden Calculator or other screening IT tools. 

RESULTS/IMPACTS 

The  Commission  has  successfully  completed 
its  Action  Programme  for  reducing 
administrative  burdens  for  businesses  in  the  EU:  altogether,  the  measures  adopted  so  far  at 
EU  level  have  brought  estimated  annual  savings  for  business  in  the  region  of  EUR  33.4 
billion, which represents a reduction of the burden by 27%. The Commission has therefore 
exceeded the 25% reduction target, set in the Action Programme. 

In 2014, 7 plenary meetings of the high-level group have been held and 12 visits to Member 
States organised for the chairman and the members. 

The  HLG  AB  drafted  a  final  report  which  summarises  the  work  done,  opinions  and  reports 
produced by the HLG AB. 

A final conference; "Smart Regulation in the EU – Building on a strong foundation" was also 
held  in  Brussels  on  14  October  2014,  with  the  participation  of  President  Barroso  and  Dr 
Stoiber with more than 500 participants. 

51 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.18. 

MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
PRINCIPLES  OF  GOOD  PRACTICE  IN  VERTICAL 
RELATIONSHIPS IN THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN 

The objective is to carry out an evaluation concerning the following 2 targets: 

  First an 'ex-post' evaluation on the effectiveness of the 'Supply Chain Initiative' on the 

basis of both quantitative and qualitative indicators. 

  The second is constituted by the voluntary initiatives/national stakeholders' platforms 
set  up  at  national  level  since  2011.  The  influence,  which  the  adopted  principles  of 
good  practice  or  the  'Supply  Chain  Initiative'  might  have  had  on  the  creation,  rules, 
design,  comprehensiveness  (involvement  of  operators  representing  the  whole  food 
supply  chain)  and  working  methods  of  potential  voluntary  initiatives  will  be  also 
investigated. 

The  contract  was  signed  for  a  value  of  EUR  188  750  after  an  open  call  for  tenders.  Three 
offers were received and the contract was awarded to Areté Srl (Italy). 

RESULTS/IMPACTS 

The study report was published and presented to the Sherpa group of the High level forum for 
a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain in February 2016.16 

The  action  was  one  of  the  main  sources  of  information  that  was  used  to  prepare  the 
Commission report on unfair business-to-business trading practices in the food supply chain 
of  29  January  2016  (COM/2016/032  final).  Based  on  the  findings,  the  Commission  has 
suggested  changes  to  improve  the  effectiveness  of  self-regulatory  initiatives  against  unfair 
business-to-business trading practices in the food supply chain. The Commission's High Level 
Forum for a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain  will monitor how those suggestions are 
taken up by the stakeholders. 

3.19. 

EXCHANGES  OF  GOOD  PRACTICES  TO 

SUPPORT EUROPEAN COMPETITIVENESS 
Member  States  were  consulted  in  autumn  2013  on  a  list  of  circa  5  themes  and  open  ended 
suggestions. The main objective of each individual exchange is to:  

Identify the key factors that are conductive to best performance in the selected area; 

 
  Allow stakeholders to exchange expertise and experience; 
  Formulate  recommendations  that  could  serve  as  guidance  for  policy  makers  when 

designing reform measures. 

There were two exchanges on: 

  Market Surveillance Activities Related to Non-Food Consumer Products Sold 

Online 

  R&D Tax Incentives 

Each exchange consisted of the following stages:  

1.  Review  of  literature  and  existing  surveys  of  best  practice,  overview  of  existing 
the  best 

identification  of  potential  countries  with 

Member  States’  policies, 

16 http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-
databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8652&lang=en&title=Publication%3A-Monitoring-of-the-
implementation-of-principles-of-good-practice-in-vertical-relationships-in-the-food-supply-chain 

52 

 
 
 
                                                 
performance  or  those  that  most-improved  in  the  specific  policy  area  selected  (main 
output: inception paper feeding the work of the expert group); 

2.  Expert  working  group  –  an  ad  hoc  working  group  (practitioners  from  national 
administrations,  private  sector,  academics,  OECD,  etc.)  carried  out  an  in-depth 
technical analysis of a selected number of countries to identify key factors, elements 
and institutional drivers that are linked to best performance in the specific area (main 
output: analytical follow-up paper outlining possible good practice recommendations 
and policy outlook);  

3.  Technical seminar – the findings of the working group were discussed at a seminar 
attended  by  representatives  from  the  relevant  departments  of  Member  State 
administrations.  

4.  Results:  Based  on  the  outcome  of  the  first  3  steps,  final  policy/good  practice/policy 
at: 

recommendations 
drawn 
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/competitiveness/reports/index_en.htm 

available 

were 

and 

are 

up 

The  first  exchange’s  aim  was  to  identify  good  practices  in  market  surveillance 
activities  related  to  non-food  consumer  products  sold  online  and  to  evaluate  their 
effectiveness  for  an  exchange.  It  aims  to  promote  an  understanding  of  the  policy 
principles and show what they mean in practice in a way that can assist other countries 
to develop similar approaches. A report was produced built around 18 cases of good 
practice in  three  categories:  monitoring  and  detection;  consumer  awareness  raising; 
and business awareness raising. 

The  report  produced  for  the  second  exchange  describes  the  R&D  tax  incentives 
available in 33 countries, presents the findings of the existing academic literature on 
the  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  tax  incentives,  and  provides  a  framework  for 
defining good practices. The vast majority of studies surveyed in this report conclude 
that R&D tax credits are effective in stimulating investment in R&D. There is limited 
evidence for a positive impact of R&D tax incentives on innovation. The estimates of 
the  size  of  this  effect  are  widely  diverging  and  are  not  always  comparable  across 
countries. 

The total budget used was EUR 173 050. 

53 

 
 
 
 
4. PROMOTING 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

AND 

ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE 

4.1. ERASMUS FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS 

Erasmus  for  Entrepreneurs  is  a  mobility  scheme  that  allows  potential  or  newly  established 
entrepreneurs  to  spend  a  period  of  time  collaborating  with  an  experienced  entrepreneur  in 
another participating country.  

These mobility actions aim to help the entrepreneurs enrich their experiences as well as learn 
and network with entrepreneurs in other participating countries. This measure will expand and 
strengthen the existing network of Intermediary Organisations (IO) which acts as local contact 
points  in  participating  countries.  The  IOs  are  in  charge  of  recruiting  and  matching  the 
entrepreneurs and facilitating the mobility actions. They also promote the programme and its 
benefits at local and national level.  

This measure is a follow-up of the preparatory action carried out in 2009-2011 and under the 
EIP objective Entrepreneurship and Innovation Culture in 2012 and 2013. 

The interim evaluation of the preparatory action has confirmed the added value of this action 
and  the  lack  of  similar  schemes  at  national  level.  It  also  confirms  the  efficiency  of  the 
operational set up to fulfil the pursued objectives and the quality of the exchanges carried out. 

The cross-border nature of the action makes it unique as a way of promoting entrepreneurship 
and is directly relevant to a key EU policy objective of internationalisation and helping new 
and growing businesses to take advantage of the EU’s Internal Market. 

The  initiative  is  implemented  via  Call  for  Proposals.  Expected  applicants  are  consortia 
composed of at least 5 entities from at least 4 participating countries. Entities can be public or 
private entities whose core activity is in the field of business support. The submitted proposals 
are evaluated by external evaluators. 

The rate of Union co-financing is up to 90 % of eligible costs incurred by the Intermediary 
Organizations. The contribution shall not exceed 75 % of the programme management costs 
but may be up to 100 % of the sum allocated by beneficiaries (Intermediary Organizations) to 
third parties (sub-grantee. i.e. new entrepreneurs) participating in a mobility action. Financial 
assistance to new entrepreneurs participating in a mobility action takes the form of a scale of 
unit cost of maximum EUR 6,600 per entrepreneur within the limit of EUR 500 000 by grant. 

Promotion  of  the  benefits  and  achievements  of  the  Erasmus  for  Young  entrepreneurs  and 
technical  support  to  users  is  provided  by  the  Support  Office  that  further  assists  the 
Commission  in  the  promotion,  the  coordination  of  the  IOs'  network  and  the  day-to-day 
support. Activities to support the network are carried out, including regular meetings with the 
IOs to foster networking. 

This activity is implemented by a Service contract awarded to the “Support Office”. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

So  far[1],  over  13  000  entrepreneurs’  profiles  have  been  registered  and  over  4100  matches 
involving  8  200  entrepreneurs  established.  A  survey  shows  that  more  than  a  third  of  the 
would-be  entrepreneurs  who  took  part  actually  started  a  business;  and  two  thirds  of  the 
experienced entrepreneurs participating gained new ideas or technical know-how, tapped into 
new  markets  and  increased  their  turnover.  Furthermore,  56%  of  host  and  30%  of  new 

[1] Figures collected in 2015. 

54 

 
 
 
                                                 
entrepreneurs  hired  new  staff  after  their  exchange.  The  long-term  results  prove  that  the 
exchange  is  a  decisive  experience  for  start-up  entrepreneurs.  78%  of  the  new  entrepreneurs 
who  created  their  company  after  their  exchange  consider  that  the  programme  contributed 
significantly to their ambition to set up a business. 

1) EYE - Call for Proposal 

The  call  for  proposal  was  published  in  May  2014  and  the  deadline  for  submitting  the 
applications was August 2014. The evaluation of the proposals was done with the assistance 
of external experts. The final budget available  at the end of 2014 was EUR 6 571 464 with 
which  the  EASME  could  co-finance  15  projects,  out  of  the  110  applications  received,  each 
having  a  project  duration  of  24  months  (01/02/2015  –  31/01/2017).  It  is  expected  that  with 
this projects about 2,200 new and host entrepreneurs would be involved (matched).  
The  2nd    6-monthly  monitoring  report  was  received  for  all  15  projects  for  reporting  period 
(1/8/2015-31/1/2016) and an evaluation of results is currently ongoing. The global impact will 
be known at the end of the implementation period, after January 2017. 

2) Support Office – Call for Tender 

The  key  role  of  the  Support  Office  is  to  assist  and  support  EASME  and  the  European 
Commission in the management of the EYE Programme and to contribute to promotion and 
communication  activities.  The  Support  Office  coordinates  the  activities  of  the  European 
Partnerships (EPs) and Intermediary Organisations (IOs) of the EYE Programme. 

The  Call  for  Tender  was  published  in  October  2014  with  a  deadline  for  submitting  the 
applications, November 2014. 8 offers were received and the contract with Eurochambres was 
signed at the end of April 2015 for a period of 24 months until end of April 2017 for EUR 598 
025. 

During the implementation period the Support Office should send different  deliverables and 
an Interim Report in May 2016. The final report is due at the end of April 2017. 

The global impact will be known at the end of the contract, namely after April 2017. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

Following  the  publication  of  the  call  for  proposals  and  of  the  call  for  tenders  in  2014,  the 
implementation  of  the  actions  started  in  the  first  half  of  2015.  The  results  and  deliverables 
will be submitted during 2015, 2016 and 2017. 

INDICATORS 

At this stage of implementation, partial data is available on some indicators. Other indicators 
could be measured only after the end of the implementation period after evaluating the final 
results of the actions:  

  749 relationships achieved by end of January 2016; 
  174 intermediary organisations involved in the implementation of the programme;  
  32 countries are covered by the Intermediary Organisations.  

BENEFICIARIES 

The beneficiaries include the following groups of legal entities: 

  Public  entities  responsible  for  or  active  in  the  fields  of  economic  affairs,  enterprise, 

business support or related issues, 

  Chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of handicrafts or similar bodies, 
  Business support organisations, start-up centres and incubators, 

55 

 
 
 
  Business associations and business support networks, 
  Public and private entities offering business support services. 

SUCCESS STORIES 

  Exchange  between  Maurizio  Ortiz  (France)  -  NE  and  Benedikt  Preisler  (Germany)- 

HE 

Maurizio  is  engineer  who  was  leading  a  research  project  in  cerebral  palsy.  He  decided  to 
concentrate his efforts on developing new life-improving solutions for children: a technology 
designed to make therapy funny and which can be used at home. His research materialised in 
a  patented  medical  device  which  focuses  on  wrist  rehabilitation.   His  company  WRIHA 
became an innovative startup in 2012. To commercialise and distribute his medical equipment 
Mauricio  decided  to  participate  in  the  Erasmus  for  Young  Entrepreneurs  and  went  to 
Germany  the  first  largest  European  medical  device  market. Thanks  to  this  stay  abroad  he 
made  new  commercial  relations  and  sold  the  wrist  rehabilitation  device  abroad.  He  also 
signed  an  agreement  and  made  the  device  available  to  150  disabled  children  and  their 
families. More on: http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/page.php?cid=09&id=350  

  Exchange between Erdman Samuel Doumbè (Belgium) - NE and Cecilia Mosze Tham 

(Spain)- HE  

The  idea  of  starting-up  JUST  MAKE  HIT  during  his  time  in  a  recording  studio  in  Paris.  It 
took  him  few  years  to  prepare  his  project  as  he  needed  first  to  learn  how  to  become  an 
entrepreneur.  To  this  aims  he  attended  various  training  sessions  in  business  management, 
workshops of which one was dedicated to Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs and also had a 
prior entrepreneurial experience in Brazil. Erdman found a suitable host in Barcelona. During 
his stay abroad Erdman had the opportunity to work on the WeCode BCN event co-organise 
by  MOB  &  IronHack.  As  project  manager  for  this  event,  Erdman  was  responsible  for 
sponsorship  and  the  communication  strategy  that  the  prepared  together  with  the  head  of 
communications.  For  Erdman,  the  Erasmus  for  Young  Entrepreneurs  was  and  enriching 
experience at both levels: professional and personal.  

‘Organising such a project enabled me to strengthen my entrepreneurial qualities, to identify 
and  improve  my  weaknesses,  and  above  all  to  learn  from  working  in  peer  with  my  host 
entrepreneur, Cecilia Tham.’ said Erdman. 

The  exchange  was  a  chance  for  him  to  put  into  practice  the  theoretical  knowledge  he  has 
acquired during training sessions. In addition to this, the experience and best practices shared 
with other entrepreneurs enabled him to improve some aspects of his business plan. Last but 
not  least  he  found  partners  with  whom  he  currently  works.  More  on:  http://www.erasmus-
entrepreneurs.eu/page.php?cid=09&id=376  

  Exchange between Diogo Cruz (Portugal) – NE and Tim Lagerpusch (Germany) – HE 

Sharing  entrepreneurial  knowledge  through  real-life  experience  is  essential  for  Tim 
Lagerpusch  who  has  been  a  business  owner  since  2006  and  co-founder  of SugarTrends  an 
online marketplace offering products brought from local shops across the world in 2012. 
Thanks  to  the  Erasmus  for  Young  Entrepreneurs  exchange  SugarTrends  benefited  from  a 
remodelling  of  its  business  plan  and  a  new  online  marketing  strategy.  This  significantly 
increased the business’ visibility and brought around 35 new local shops into its market place 
and an early stage increase in sales of 300%.  

56 

 
 
 
 
 
"New entrepreneur Diogo had the entrepreneurial abilities and skills we were looking for to 
develop our business further. Moreover with his degree in business and engineering he was 
the best candidate for this challenge.” said Tim. 

The  fresh  ideas  of  the  new  partner greatly  contributed  to  the  progress  of  Tim’s  business  by 
creating solid business processes and the development of new IT systems to support the daily 
activities.  The  fruitful  cooperation  did  not  stop  at  the  end  of  the  exchange  and  the  two 
entrepreneurs  continue  working  on  the  development  of  SugarTrends  into  a  global  venture. 
More details at: http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/page.php?cid=09&id=278 

  Exchange between David Hahn (Germany)- NE and David Tronchoni (Spain) – HE 

David  with  his  team,  he  developed  an  advertising  surface  which  can  be  used  to  charge 
smartphones  safely.  After  this  first  entrepreneurial  experience,  David  decided  to  pursue  his 
business idea and applied for the ‘Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs' programme, to be able 
to develop his business plan further with the help of an experienced business owner.  
David  needed  to  get  some  knowledge  on  how  to start  up,  lead  and  develop  a  company.  He 
wanted  to  learn  more  about  lean  management  and  optimization  of  business  processes.The  programme 
helped him to get in touch with host entrepreneur from Valencia, Spain. During his stay, new 
entrepreneur  David  had  the  possibility  to  engage  in  a  wide  range  of  activities  such  as  the 
introduction of new concepts for the development of the host company abroad, including new 
concepts for the website, developing marketing, commercial and communication strategies in 
view of expanding Edinn Global to the German market. Both entrepreneurs continue to collaborate 
and  new  entrepreneur  David  is  now  working  on  new  sales  channels  for  Edinn  Global  on  the  German 
market. He is even planning on turning this newfound opportunity into his own business and becoming the 
German sales channel for other startups from abroad. For the two Davids, the exchange has lead not only to 
a  very  productive  collaboration  but  also  to  a  friendship  to  last  for  a  while.  More  info  at: 
http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/page.php?cid=09&id=327  

57 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.2. SUPPORT  FOR  ENTREPRENEURSHIP  POLICY 

IMPLEMENTATION 

Three actions have been implemented to support the entrepreneurship policy  

1.  Conference on Boosting the Business of Liberal Professions  

The  objective  was  to  follow-up  to  the  2013  working  group  on  liberal  professions  and  to 
provide  the  appropriate  forum  for  discussions  on  the  draft  policy  paper:  "Action  Lines  for 
Bolstering the Business of Liberal Professions" containing proposals for measures to support 
liberal  professions,  especially  in  business  development,  internationalisation  and  access  to 
finance, and on the dissemination of the key messages. 

The  conference  contributed  to  peer-learning  across  Member  States,  consolidation  and 
unification of efforts, a joint approach to entering markets outside the European Union,  and 
establishing  a  level  playing  field  for  liberal  professions  within  Europe  concerning  support 
measures.  It  gathered  103  representatives  of  national  and  European  organisations  of  liberal 
professions across Europe.  

The results of the conference served as a basis for the next meeting of the Working Group on 
Liberal  Professions in the SME Assembly  in  October 2014 in  Naples. For the first time the 
representatives of Liberal Professions attended the SME Assembly.  

The  Italian EU  Presidency  strongly  supported  the  further  development  of  policy  for  Liberal 
Professions. ADEPP and EurelPro organised a meeting on "The role of liberal professions for 
European growth" on 2/10/2014 in Naples, as a follow-up. 

The European Parliament continues to show strong interest to the further promotion of liberal 
professions (See Question for oral answer 000080/2015 and Hearing on Liberal Professions). 

The  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  adopted  Opinion  INT/687/2014  on  Liberal 
Professions and conducted a study on their role. 

2013-2014:  the  Working  Group  "Bolstering  the  Business  of  Liberal  Professions"  met  four 
times throughout this period. 

9 April 2014:  Conference on Liberal Professions, Brussels 

30 September 2014: Last meeting of the Working Group, SME Assembly 2014, Naples, Italy. 

2015 -The final version of the Action Lines for Bolstering the Business of Liberal Professions 
to be adopted by the Commission (discussions are ongoing). 

Planned budget: EUR 300 000. Commitment: EUR 178 358. 

2.  Conference on Second Chance for Honest Failed Entrepreneurs 

The objective of this action was to follow-up to the Commission expert group from 2010 
and  the  2007  Communication  overcoming  the  stigma  of  failure  and  to  take  stock  of  the 
developments in the Member States in terms of overcoming the stigma of failure and giving 
honest  failed  entrepreneurs  a  second  chance  to  re-start  their  business  as  well  as  identifying 
good practices and defining future actions. 

The  conference  gathered  approx.  280  representatives  from  European  and  national 
administrations, business stakeholders, support services and academia to explore possibilities 
on how to improve the support to enterprises / entrepreneurs in distress and/or create a chance 
for a re-start of honest failed entrepreneurs and to craft concrete actions based on the results 
of the conference.  

The following topics were addressed during the conference: 

58 

 
 
  Legal framework of the rescue culture in Europe  
  Entrepreneurship education – preparation for failure  
  Access to finance for a second chance  
  How to learn from dealing with failure in other areas - aviation-health-nuclear-audit 
  Support /advisory services for failed entrepreneurs 
  Lessons learned from failure and second start – testimonials from entrepreneurs. 

Each  workshop  contained  a  panel  of  half  a  dozen  or  so  speakers,  chaired  by  a  moderator. 
Their  presentations  were  followed  by  discussion  and  input  from  the  floor.  Each  session 
resulted in specific conclusions for further action in its particular area. This report contains a 
summary of the day’s proceedings and the recommendations which emerged. 

As a follow-up to the conference the Commission will work in 2016 on a European network 
of  early  warning  and advisory services  that  will  help  businesses  in  distress  to  either  avert  a 
bankruptcy or mitigate the effects of a crisis if liquidation cannot be avoided. 

Planned budget: EUR 200 000. Commitment: EUR 149 140. 

3.  Conference on Transfers of Business  

the 

implementation  of  previous  Commission 

The objective of this action was to follow-up to the Commission expert group in 2013 and 
earlier Communications and recommendations and to promote findings of the Evaluation 
of 
(1994)  and 
Communications (2006) on business transfers conducted in cooperation with the Commission 
expert group throughout 2013. It has identified good practices in fields such as regulatory and 
financial issues related to transfers, effective support the use of on-line platforms for business 
transfer,  including  testimonials  from  policy  makers,  entrepreneurs  and  support  service 
providers, 

recommendations 

The  one-day  conference  gathered  over  100  participants  representing  decision-makers  at 
national  and  regional  levels,  representatives  of  institutions  active  in  business  transfer, 
including  chambers  of  commerce,  economic  development  agencies,  business  transfer 
professionals,  matching  platforms'  operators;  business  support  providers,  entrepreneurs  who 
went  through  transfers  (representing  both  buyers  and  sellers)  from  EU  Member  States  and 
COSME participating countries. Two plenary sessions and four parallel workshops included a 
scene-setter  and  practical  examples  and  case  studies  of  existing  support  measures  and 
solutions that could possibly be replicated elsewhere. 

It  contributed  to  peer-learning  across  Member  States,  awareness  rising  for  the  topic  at  a 
European  level  and  as  a  mid-term  review  and  exchange  of  experiences  related  to  the 
implementation of projects awarded under the call for proposal on business transfers (award 
decision in December 2013).  The conference was considered highly relevant, informative and 
successful by both participants and organisers. 

The budget planned for the event was EUR 200 000 and the real cost was EUR 149 140. 

BENEFICIARIES 

Representatives  of  institutions  active  in  the  field  of  liberal  professions,  second  chance  for 
bankrupts entrepreneurs  and business transfers, including chambers of commerce, economic 
development  agencies,  business  associations,  professionals,  matching  platforms'  operators; 
business support providers,  decision-makers at national and regional levels.  

59 

 
 
 
 
4.3. DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR 

The  measure  will  result  into  state-of-play  evidence  on  latest  technology  and  market  trends, 
evolution  of  industrial  value  chains  and  new  business  models  leading  the  digital 
transformation  of  industry.  It  will  benchmark  national  policies  on  digital  transformation  of 
industry,  develop  a  digital  transformation  scoreboard.  The  measure  will  allow  to  measure 
country and industry progress and provide country-specific policy recommendations. 

RESULTS AND IMPACT  

The  call  for  tenders  was  published  in  August  2014.  The  Digital  Entrepreneurship  Monitor 
started in February 2015. The work advances according to schedule.   

The  existing  methodology,  developed  for  the  pilot  phase  of  the  digital  entrepreneurship 
monitor, has been reviewed and updated. Three draft technology reports have been produced 
on  ‘mobile  and  mobility’,  ‘3d  printing’,  and  ‘the  internet  of  things’.  The  reports  provide  a 
deep  dive  on  each  technology  by  addressing  their  disruptive  nature,  the  challenges  for 
adoption, particular drivers and barriers and the new business models and opportunities that 
can arise.  

Similarly, three draft industry reports have been produced on the automotive, the healthcare 
and  pharmaceutical  industries  and  mechanical  engineering.  these  technology  and  industry 
reports incorporate a series of success stories which showcase identified businesses that have 
effectively  used  the  new  disruptive  technologies  described  in  the  technology  reports  to 
transform the way they operate in the industries highlighted in the markets reports. 

Three  industry  based  surveys  take  place  on  a  yearly  basis  inquiring  companies  in  three 
different  industries  (1st  round  of  2016:  health  and  pharmaceuticals,  automotive  and 
mechanical engineering) per edition. By the end of the third year of implementation, a total of 
9 industries should have been represented in the scoreboard. The structure of the annual issues 
of the scoreboard was reviewed and the next publication is foreseen for autumn 2016. 

The ‘high-level conference on the digital transformation of Europe’s industry and enterprises’ 
took  place  in  Brussels  on  16  February  2016.  Hosted  by  commissioner  Bieńkowska  and 
bringing  together  three  other  members  of  the  commission  –  Vice-President    Katainen, 
commissioners Moedas and Oettinger – and more than 400 participants and 30 speakers, this 
event  illustrated  that  the  commission  works  together  to  enable  European  industry  seize  the 
unprecedented  opportunities  of  the  high-tech  era.  The  conclusions  of  each  session  were 
brought  together  in  a  conference  declaration  which  calls  for  immediate  action  by  europe's 
business leaders and policymakers in seven areas. 

Since March 2015, four strategic policy forum on digital entrepreneurship meetings and two 
member states board on digital entrepreneurship meetings have been organised. A first draft 
of the strategic policy forum’s recommendations has been provided on 10 march 2016. The 
final deliverables of the forum will be published in the following months and will include: 

  The european blueprint for cities and regions as launch pads for digital transformation 
which will presented at the open innovation 2.0 conference in Amsterdam on 23 May. 
This customized blueprint will provide specific knowledge and instructions based on 
the particular needs of the stakeholders (e.g. city mayors). 

  The  purpose  of  the  report  on  “accelerating  the  uptake  of  big  data  and  building 
competitive  digital  platforms  in  europe”,  published  in  april  2016,  is  to  provide  an 
understanding  of  the  economic  and  social  impact  on  europe  of  the  rise  of  digital 
platforms in industrial value chains, and of how the adoption of digital platforms and 
big data can boost the competitiveness of european industries 

  The report on “reskilling the workforce: digital skills for industry” will be released in 

60 

 
 
the coming weeks and develop recommendations on actions to be taken to impart the 
necessary  e-skills  to  drive  the  digital  transformation  of  european  industry,  and  how 
people can be motivated to take advantage of the available resources. 

  The deliverable for the “become a digital ambassador experiences” will take the form 
of  a  toolkit  that  will  allow  users  to  interact  with  each  disruptive  technology  and 
provide key materials to organize a successful digital pop-up experience. 

Digital technologies and digitalization can make an increasingly important contribution 
towards meeting today's most pressing societal challenges (including climate change 
objectives) and supporting economic growth, by delivering new knowledge, products and 
services. Making full use of new technologies, in particular ICT, will be the key to building a 
more sustainable and energy efficient future to fight against the climate change. Digital 
technologies affect the full product lifecycle. They bring substantial gains in terms of carbon 
and energy efficiency. They also enable the management of end-of-life products in a smarter 
and energy-efficient way. 
WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

It is planned to further develop and expand suitable mechanisms to observe and analyse the 
current diffusion and adoption dynamics of novel digital technologies, especially in the fields 
of  mobile,  cloud,  social  media,  data  analytics,  digitisation,  design,  prototyping,  testing  and 
proof  of  concept,  and  collaborative  technologies  based  on  the  experience  of  the  digital 
entrepreneurship monitor. Together with the kets-observatory both tools will regularly nurture 
the  entrepreneurial  discovery  process  of  the  smart  specialisation  strategies  of  european 
regions  and countries  with  sound  and  objective statistical  evidence,  notably  to  support  their 
regional  smes  &  innovation  ecosystems.  This  action  will  provide  relevant  data  on  how 
regional authorities can facilitate the uptake of promising technologies by their local smes. 

The  DEM  action  is  accompanied  by  the  awareness  campaign  for  digital  transformation  and 
speeding  up  digital  transformation  and  the  uptake  of  advanced  technologies  at  regional  and 
local level (watify - cip 2013 & awareness raising campaign for the modernisation of europe's 
industry - cosme 2015). 

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

The Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor will run until February 2018 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

Service Contract – open call for tenders – Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor: EUR 2 389 443. 

CONTRACTOR 

A consortium composed of PriceWaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg, Carsa, ESN & IDATE 

61 

 
 
 
 
4.4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

EDUCATION 

EUROPEAN 
INITIATIVE) 

ENTREPRENEURIAL 

(PAN-
LEARNING 

The project has been renamed "The European Entrepreneurship Education NETwork" (or EE-
HUB.EU).  In  line  with  proposals  included  in  the  Entrepreneurship  2020  Action  Plan,  the 
initiative aims to support a virtual hub on entrepreneurial learning at European level. This is 
driven by policy makers and experts with a strong knowledge of the topic and who commit 
themselves  to  facilitate  progress  and  increase  coordination  of  the  efforts  made  by  Member 
States  and  regions.  The  action  encourages  and  supports  networking  of  policy  makers  and 
practitioners  across  Europe  with  a  strong  interest  in  the  development  of  entrepreneurship 
education and in deepening of cooperation at EU level in this area. 

The  main  work  areas  are  to  support  national  policy  frameworks  and  to  recommend  teacher 
training  and  support.  Two  work  streams  look  into  how  businesses,  private  associations, 
regional  authorities  and  organisations  can  support  the  uptake  of  entrepreneurship  education. 
The network intends to map and analyse the entrepreneurship education ecosystem, including 
instruments to collect and assess information 

RESULTS AND IMPACT IN 2014 

The action is on-going. The launch event took place on 5-6 May 2015, and a network of 47 
experts from different countries was set up to contribute to the activities. Work was started to 
identify exemplary practices as possible models for wider dissemination and mutual learning. 

Four proposals were received and the beneficiary of the grant is JA Europe (coordinator of the 
project). 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE AFTER 2014/2015? 

The implementation of the action will last till 2018.  

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

  Publication of the call for proposals – 11 June 2014 
  Start of the action – 17 March 2015 
  Duration of action – 36 months 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

Planned budget: EUR 350 000. Commitment: EUR 349 998. 

INDICATORS 

Number  of  countries  covered  by  the  awarded  organisation:  The  project  was  awarded  to 
trans-national  organisations  that  already  provide  and  promote  entrepreneurship  education 
across Europe, covering all EU countries and countries participating in COSME. In particular 
JA Europe operates in 39 European countries, while SEECEL covers 8 South East European 
countries including pre-accession countries. 

Number  of  countries  that  will  participate  in  the  activities  of  the  network:  All  EU  and 
COSME  countries  will  be  able  in  principle  to  participate  and  benefit  from  the  Network. 
Number of participants in the network: So far a network of 47 experts was created. More 
data will be available on the indicators at the end of the project. 

BENEFICIARIES 

The  beneficiaries  of 
the  project), 
EUROCHAMBRES,  SEECEL  and  EUproVET.  The  final  beneficiaries  (end-users)  of  the 

(coordinator  of 

the  grant  are 

JA  Europe 

62 

 
 
activity will be National and regional authorities, policy makers, educational institutions and 
educators, 

4.5. WOMEN  ENTREPRENEURSHIP  -  EUROPEAN  ON-
FEMALE 

E-PLATFORM 

FOR 

LINE 
ENTREPRENEURS 

The measure consists of a call for tender to create a European on-line e-platform for female 
entrepreneurship. The platform will be an e-one stop shop for female entrepreneurship, which 
will bring together all relevant stakeholders, the European network of female entrepreneurship 
ambassadors and mentors.  This platform will provide information on training, mentoring 
and access to finance, to start up and grow a business, data and good practices on female 
entrepreneurship as well as appropriate sectorial information. 

No results or impact so far as the work started in the 1st quarter 2016 and the E-platform will run  as of 
October 2016. 

 FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

Twelve offers were received after the open call for tenders and the service contract was signed 
for  1  million  with  European  Service  Network  (  Belgium)  with  as  co-tenderer  Everis  Spain 
S.L.U. 

BENEFICIARIES 

Women entrepreneurs; would be entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurship stakeholders  

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

  1st  Advisory  Committee  meeting  on  structure  and  building  of  the  e-platform:  on  4 

February 2016 

  2nd Advisory Committee meeting on content : 20 April 2016 
  3rd Advisory Committee meeting on content and launching event: 30 June and 1 July 

2016 

  Launching event of the e-platform in Brussels on 30 September 2016 

63 

 
 
  
 
4.6. SENIOR  ENTREPRENEURS  BEST  PRACTICE 

EXCHANGE 

The  'Senior  entrepreneurs:  Best  practice  exchanges'  project  is  designed  to  contribute  to  the 
overall  EU  Entrepreneurship  2020  Action  Plan  by  directly  addressing  the  third  objective  of 
developing role models and reaching out to specific groups, while also indirectly contributing 
to  the  other  two  pillars,  the  provision  of  education  and  training  and  the  creation  of  a 
favourable  environment  for  entrepreneurs,  through  related  actions.  Supporting  the  transition 
of  seniors  to  become  entrepreneurs  (or  mentors  to  younger  entrepreneurs)  presents  an 
important segment for potentially increasing economic and innovation activity. 

This measure regarded the organization of two Laboratories with the participation of experts 
to  share  approaches  and  details  of  actions  where  retired  or  senior  entrepreneurs  serve  as 
mentors, coaches or advisers to new entrepreneurs, or are given support and advice to enable 
them to become entrepreneurs for the first time themselves.   

The  two  European  “Laboratories”  took  place  last  year.  They  served  served  as  tool  for  the 
active exchange of experiences. The Laboratories took place in London (UK) on 16-17 June 
2015 and in Barcelona (Spain) on 17-18 September 2015. These events offered a platform for 
organisations and individuals to share practices and to develop partnerships, as evidenced by 
the Facebook page created by participants17.   

The  Laboratories  produced  evidence,  recommendations  and  guidance  to  be  disseminated  to 
interested  administrations  and  organisations  (e.g.  business  support  providers,  social  support 
organisations,  etc.).  The  outcomes  are  presented  in  a  Good  Practice  Manual  on  Senior 
Entrepreneurship.  It  includes  a  collection  of  good  practices  presented  during  the  two 
laboratories,  additional  good  practice  examples  provided  by  the  participants  and  practical 
recommendations  and  guidelines  for  support  to  senior  entrepreneurship  (a  total  of  24  good 
practices).  The Manual has already been delivered by the contractor and it will be published 
very soon. 

WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE? 

1.  The  Good  Practice  Manual  on  Senior  Entrepreneurship  is  estimated  to  be  published  in 
June/July 2016. 

2. Dissemination of the Manual. 

IMPLEMENTATION CALENDAR 

  16-17 June 2015: First 'Laboratory' on seniors as mentors for young/new entrepreneurs 

– London 

  17-18 September 2015:Second 'Laboratory' on seniors as entrepreneurs - Barcelona  
  15 April 2016: the final version of the Good Practice Manual was delivered. 
  3rd quarter 2016: Manual to be disseminated. 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

The budget was committed for EUR 436 734. Six offers were received after an open call for 
tenders and the contract was signed with Development Solutions Europe Ltd, UK. 

17 The Facebook page is an active platform for ongoing exchange of information and ideas, allowing individuals 
and  organisations  to  stay  connected  The  page  can  be  found  under  the  name  ‘Senior  Entrepreneurs  -  Young 
Entrepreneurs’ at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/901823413231219/ 

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BENEFICIARIES 

Representatives of institutions active in the field senior entrepreneurship, including economic 
development  agencies,  business  associations,  chambers  of  commerce,  business  support 
providers, decision-makers at national and regional levels as well as seniors who would like 
to become entrepreneurs themselves or get involved as mentors for young/new entrepreneurs.  

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4.7. PROMOTION OF SOCIAL ECONOMY IN EUROPE  

Organisation of the International Conference “Social Entrepreneurship: a tool for addressing 
local development, youth unemployment and social needs”.  

The  high  level  International  Conference  on  Social  Entrepreneurship  was  held  in  Herakleion 
Crete  by  the  Hellenic  Ministry  of  Labour,  Social  Security  and  Welfare  and  the  European 
Commission  (DG Enterprise and Industry) under the auspices of the Hellenic Presidency of 
the  EU  Council  the  10  and  11  June  2014.Τhe  Presidency  supported  this  Conference  as  a 
contribution to raising awareness on the social value of social entrepreneurship, regarding in 
particular vulnerable groups and the youth, to the activation of all actors, public and private, 
involved  in  the  development  of  social  entrepreneurship  sector  and  to  the  dissemination  of 
information  on  different  ways  of  access  to  funding.  Wishing  to  promote  the  idea  of  a 
competition regarding social entrepreneurship business plans, the Ministry of Labour, Social 
Security and Welfare organized a student competition, with the support of Greek Educational 
Institutions with significant experience in this field. 

The Greek Presidency’s conference on social entrepreneurship gave participants a panorama 
of developments and initiatives in social enterprises across Europe. 

Budget implemented: EUR 86 500. 

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