REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT for the interim evaluation of the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized enterprises
Date: 2019-10-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, business start-up, company growth, competitiveness, corporate finance, market access, organisational culture, single market, small and medium-sized enterprises, sustainable development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.10.2019  COM(2019) 468 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT for the interim evaluation of the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized enterprises {SWD(2019) 374 final}  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

for the interim evaluation of the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and 
Small and Medium-sized enterprises 

I. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  Programme  for  the  Competitiveness  of  Enterprises  and  Small  and  Medium-sized  Enterprises 
(SMEs) - COSME - is the Union’s programme to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of 
enterprises,  to  encourage  an  entrepreneurial  culture  and  to  promote  the  creation  and  growth  of 
SMEs. It contributes to the overall objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy on smart, sustainable and 
inclusive  growth  while  seeking  to  optimise  synergies  with  other  EU  programmes  such  as  Horizon 
2020 and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).  

As stipulated in the COSME regulation1, the Commission has carried out the interim evaluation of the 
programme in order to assess its relevance and added-value as well the effectiveness and efficiency 
of its implementation and coherence with other EU programmes. 

This report summarises the main findings of the evaluation, enlists conclusions and lessons learnt. A 
more detailed Staff Working Document accompanies it.  

II. 

BACKGROUND 

COSME succeeds the  Competitiveness  and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP)2, implemented 
between 2007 and 2013 with a budget envelope of EUR 3.6 billion3. Its objectives were to contribute 
to strengthening productivity, innovation capacity, and sustainable growth. CIP comprised of three 
‘pillars’:  the  Entrepreneurship  and  Innovation  Programme  (EIP),  the  Information  Communication 
Technologies  Policy  Support  Programme  (ICT-PSP),  and  the  Intelligent  Energy  Europe  Programme 
(IEE).  

In the 2014-2020 programming period, the activities under ICT-PSP and IEE were moved to Horizon 
2020, while the activities under the EIP programme were largely transferred to COSME.  

The EIP accounted for approximately 60% of the CIP budget. The EIP supported access to finance for 
SMEs, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE), the Intellectual 
Property Rights’ (IPR) Helpdesks for SMEs, and activities aimed at fostering entrepreneurship culture 
and creating better framework conditions for SMEs operating in the EU. No references to innovation 
were included in COSME, while special attention to tourism has been introduced.4  

The impact assessment5 accompanying the proposal for a COSME regulation6 identified the following 
market failures: a problematic access to finance for SMEs; low levels of entrepreneurial firm creation 
and poor performance; weak entrepreneurial spirit; a business environment not conducive to start-

1 Regulation (EU) N° 1287/2013 
2 Decision 1639/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a 
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007-2013) 
3 COM(2005) 121 
4 For a detailed comparison of CIP and COSME: Fanny Lajarthe (2012). Differences and Similarities Between CIP 
And COSME: Briefing Note. IP/A/ITRE/2012-14 
5 SEC(2011) 1452 final 
6 COM(2011)834 

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up  and  growth;  issues  preventing  industry  specialization  and  sectoral  competitiveness;  limited 
internationalisation of SMEs inside and outside Europe. 

The general and specific objectives of COSME were designed to address these issues. The preferred 
option  to  achieve  these  objectives  was  the  continuation  under  COSME  of  all  EIP  actions  (EUR  2.2 
billion), except innovation (approximately EUR 600 million). The financial envelope of COSME is EUR 
2.3 billion for the period 2014-2020.  

The  COSME  programme  is  mainly  implemented  by  EASME,  the  European  Agency  for  Small  and 
Medium-sized  Enterprises,  on  behalf  of  the  European  Commission  (the  EC)  with  exception  of  the 
financial  instruments  which  are  being  implemented  by  the  European  Investment  Fund  (EIF)  on 
behalf of the EC. The programme is also open for the third, non–EU, European countries7.  

III. 

IMPLEMENTATION – STATE OF PLAY 

As  evidenced  in  the  midterm  evaluation,  the  budget  execution  rates  of  COSME  are  good.  The 
operational  budget8  available  in  2014  (EUR  247  million),  was  executed  at  99.87%;  in  2015  the 
operational    budget  available  (EUR  329  million)  was  executed  at  99.38%;  in  2016  the  operational 
budget available (EUR 336 million) was executed at 96.69%. The implementation structures for the 
financial  instruments  and  the  Enterprise  Europe  Network  were  in  place  and  delivering.  A  further 
reinforcement of EUR 550 million of the financial instruments was provided through the European 
Fund for Strategic Investments. 

Access to Finance - specific objective 1 

At  least  60%  of  the  Programme’s  resources  (i.e.  EUR  1400  million)  are  allocated  to  the  COSME 
Financial  Instruments,  the  Loan  Guarantee  Facility  (LGF)  and  the  Equity  Facility  for  Growth  (EFG). 
They  build  on  the  success  of  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Framework  Programme  (CIP) 
Financial Instruments (2007-2013) which helped to mobilise more than EUR 21 billion of loans and 
EUR 3 billion of venture capital to over 380,000 SMEs in Europe.  

The calls for expression of interest for the financial instruments published in 2014 have generated a 
strong  interest  from  financial  intermediaries  across  the  EU  and  non-EU  Member  State  countries 
participating in COSME, especially for the LGF. The strong market demand for the LGF continued in 
2015, with the consequence that the whole 2014-2015 budget available was exhausted by mid-2015. 
Thanks  to  the  guarantee  provided  by  the  European  Fund  for  Strategic  Investment  (EFSI)9  the  EIF 
could continue to sign COSME LGF guarantee agreements in the second half of 2015. At the end of 
2016,  almost  143 000  SMEs  in  21  participating  countries  received  financing  for  almost  EUR  5.5 
billion10  under  the  enhanced  LGF.  The  COSME  LGF  enhancement  thanks  to  the  EFSI  guarantee 
continued in 2016 and 2017, with a positive effect on financing made available to riskier SMEs at a 

7 https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/34263 

8 Budget lines 02.02.01 and 02.02.02 for all fund sources, including third countries contributions and reflows 
from the CIP financial instruments and not including the COSME administrative budget lines. 
9 The so-called COSME LGF enhancement 
10 See COSME LGF Implementation Status as at 31 March 2016 available at: 
http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/guarantees/single_eu_debt_instrument/cosme-loan-facility-
growth/index.htm 

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much earlier moment  in time  as would have  been the  case  with the COSME budget only,  thereby 
speeding up the financing of the real economy.  

Given the specific features inherent to an equity facility, with more complex due diligence and fund 
raising  processes,  signature  of  fund  agreements  took  more  time.  The  first  five  transactions  under 
EFG, out of which 3 multi-stage funds in combination with the InnovFin Equity Facility for Early Stage 
set up under Horizon 2020, have been signed end of 2015. First investments into SMEs took place in 
2016 under these agreements. 

Access to markets – specific objective 2 

COSME helps European enterprises and, in particular SMEs, to do business in the Single Market as 
well as to export outside Europe. More than two thirds of the COSME budget for access to markets is 
devoted to the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), which helps SMEs to find business, technology and 
research  partners  in  the  EU  and  third  countries.  It  also  promotes  the  participation  of  SMEs  in  EU 
funding programmes such as Horizon 2020 and the European Investment and Structural Funds. 

The EEN started its activities as planned on 1/1/2015 (the activities in 2014 were still covered by the 
CIP programme).  92 consortia were selected as a result of two calls for proposals. At this stage the 
Network included 525 organisations in the EU and 80 organisations in the eight COSME participating 
countries11;  they  signed  framework  partnership  agreements  covering  a  seven  year  period  and 
specific grant agreements for the operational periods 2015-2016 and 2017-2018. 

The  Enterprise  Europe  Network  (about  3.000  staff members)  involved, on  yearly  basis,  more  than 
200.000  SMEs  in  local  events,  provided  specialised  advisory  services  to  70.000  SMEs  on  access  to 
finance,  IPR  business  and  technology,  resource  efficiency  services  etc.    About  25.000  SMEs 
participate  in  matchmaking  events  every  year  resulting  in  about  2.500  international  partnerships 
signed between SME. 

Under specific objective 2 COSME is also implemented by funding several other smaller projects; the 
most important are: 

 
 

 
 
 

The Your Europe Business portal for about EUR 0.5 million per year; 
The intellectual property rights (IPR) helpdesks in China, Latin America and south east Asia for EUR 7,2 
million; 
The EU Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation EUR 2,7 million per year; 
Improved points of single contacts in the Member States for EUR 1 million; 
Improving access to SMEs in public procurement, EUR 1 million. 

Improve framework conditions for businesses – specific objective 3 

COSME funds actions aiming at improving the business environment for SMEs such as clusters and 
digital technologies, cutting red tape and promoting the "Think Small First" principle and improving 
the  competitiveness  of  strategic  sectors  which  have  a  strategic  importance  for  the  European 
economy, including tourism.  

This objective is implemented through a wide variety of smaller actions, through calls for proposals 
and calls for tenders such as: 

11 Iceland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Moldova, Armenia 

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The E-Skills for competitiveness and Innovation, about EUR 3 million per year; 
The Cluster  internationalization program for SMEs, ranging from EUR 3,5 to EUR 5 million per year; 
The Cluster Excellence programme for EUR 1,5 million per year; 

 
 
 
  Modernization  of  Industry  activities  (Key  Enabling  Technologies,  Advanced  Manufacturing,  etc.)  for 

 

 

 
 
 

EUR 5 million per year on average; 
Several  activities  to  support  SMEs  in  industrial  sectors  (Construction,  Chemistry,  Aeronautics, 
Defense, the food supply chain, Resource Efficiency, Design, Bio Based Products, …); ranging from EUR 
5 to 8 million per year; 
The monitoring and follow-up of the SME policy, EUR 5 million per year on average: 

o  The SME Performance Review;  
o  The SME assembly; 
o  The SME Envoys Network; 
o  The outreach tools like Business Planet on Euronews and the SME portal; 
EU REFIT platform for regulatory burden reduction, EUR 0,5 million on average per year 
The support to Tourism sector for a budget ranging from EUR 5 to EUR 9 million per year; 
The promotion of the social economy and social entrepreneurship, for a budget ranging from EUR 0.5 
to EUR 2 million per year. 

Between 2014 and 2016, EUR 109.3 million were allocated to this objective, representing 12% of the 
financial  envelope.  The  first  calls  under  this  objective  were  published  at  the  end  of  2014  and 
considering the the period of execution, most of the actions only started producing results after the 
time scope for this evaluation.   

The High-level Group on administrative burden contributed to the exchange of good practices and 
the  follow-up  up  and  paved  the  way  for  the  EU  REFIT  platform.  The  SME  Performance  Review 
provided an overview of the European SMEs and detailed information on the implementation of the 
Small  Business  Act.  The  Member  States-specific  information  was  fed  into  the  European  Semester 
country specific recommendations. The network of SME Envoys, the annual SME Assembly and the 
European SME week provided fora for awareness raising and exchange of good practices in all areas 
of  the  Small  Business  Act.  Last  but  not  least,  the  4th  season  of  business  planet  on  Euronews  TV 
started on 12 June 2015.  

The e-skills for jobs campaign covered 30 countries, involving 384 organisations and gathering more 
than 300.000 participants with some 115 million people exposed to the campaign. 

The call for proposals "Design based  consumer goods"  (with an available budget of EUR 4 million) 
resulted  in  10  SME  projects  awarded  to  develop  innovative,  digital  solutions  to  improve  design 
processes  and  communication  in  the  textile  and  clothing  value  chain,  innovative  products 
embedding digital technologies to products and new business models addressing environmental and 
societal challenges.  

The  tourism  initiatives  contributed  to  strengthening  the  competitiveness  of  the  European  tourism 
sector. The initiatives  dedicated to the increase of  senior and young tourists' flows  contributed to 
generate an extension of the tourism season. Actions to enhance tourism accessibility contributed to 
improving  facilities  and  services  for  tourists  with  special  access  needs.  The  visibility  of  European 
Destinations of Excellence has been improved, which will trigger higher numbers of potential tourist 
arrivals and local spill-over revenues for the destinations and tourism operators. Awareness-raising 
activities and events generated a better visibility and up-take of tourism initiatives.  

In 2014-2016, the Clusters Go International calls involved 25 European Strategic Cluster Partnerships 
(ESCPs), representing 145 cluster organisations across 23 European countries and more than 17,000 
European  SMEs.  15  out  of  the  25  selected  ESCPs  were  funded.  The  other  10  partnerships  were 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
awarded the ESCP label and encouraged to continue their partnerships on a voluntary basis, without 
COSME funding. The 15 co-funded partnerships account for approximately 95 clusters reaching out 
to over 10,300 European SMEs. 

Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial culture – specific objective 4 

COSME  supports  exchanges  among  European  educators  and  trainers  to  develop  best  practices  in 
entrepreneurship  education  in  the  EU.  The  programme  focuses  on  groups  such  as  young  people, 
women or senior entrepreneurs in order to benefit from mentoring or other tailored schemes.  
The  main  tool  is  the  Erasmus  for  Young  Entrepreneurs  mentoring  programme  which  helps  new 
entrepreneurs acquire and build entrepreneurial skills and knowledge and to further develop their 
business activity by learning from experienced entrepreneurs. It started in 2009 as a pilot and is now 
a key action in the COSME programme. 

It  is  implemented  through  yearly  call  for  proposals  resulting  in  the  signature  by  EASME  of  grant 
agreements (GA) for 24 month periods. In general there are always a high number of good projects 
that cannot be financed because of a lack of funding. For the Call 201412: 111 proposals submitted, 
15 projects selected involving 111 organizations from 28 COSME countries; 40 projects for a volume 
of approx. 14 million EUR  could not  be  funded due to budget constraints. The implementation of 
the  activities  started  on  1/2/2015  with  network  of  175  Intermediary  Organisations  (IOs)  in  32 
countries (26 Member  States and 6 COSME countries). By  the end of 2016, 11.000 entrepreneurs’ 
profiles were accepted and 4.200 matches involving over 8.400 entrepreneurs were established.  

Under  this specific objective COSME  also funds several other smaller projects; the most  important 
are: 

Entrepreneurship education from EUR 0,4 to EUR 1 million on average per year; 

 
  Women’s entrepreneurship, for EUR 0,5 to EUR 1 million on average per year; 
 
Senior’s entrepreneurship for EUR 0,5 to EUR 1 million on average per year; 
  Digital Entrepreneurship, EUR 2,5 million in 2015; 
 

Support to Migrant Entrepreneurship, EUR 1,5 million per year. 

IV. 

METHODOLOGY 

The midterm evaluation covers the period 2014-2016 and it is largely based on a  study13 conducted 
between December 2016 and December 2017 by an external consultancy. The consultant carried out 
the study using the Commission’s standard evaluation methodology, as recommended in the Better 
Regulation  guidelines14.    The  objective  was  to  evaluate  the  programme  activities  funded  in  2014-
2016 against five criteria: relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency and the EU added value. 

The  midterm  evaluation  addressed  6  leading  questions  and  15  sub-questions  set  out  in  the  study 
specifications, and used a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods.  

12 https://ec.europa.eu/easme/sites/easme-site/files/documents/erasmus-for-young-entrepreneurs-call-for-
proposals-2014.pdf 
13 http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/28084 
14 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/planning-and-proposing-law/better-regulation-why-and-
how/better-regulation-guidelines-and-toolbox_en  

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The  midterm  evaluation  tools  included  desk  research,  statistical  analysis  of  secondary  data,  a 
workshop, 120 high-level interviews, targeted consultations reaching more than  4,000 SMEs, and a 
public consultation receiving 195 responses and 14 position papers.  

Taking account that this is an interim evaluation, most of the expected long-term impacts are not yet 
measurable.    Therefore,  the  primary  focus  was  on  the  extent  to  which  the  programme  sets  the 
building blocks for reaching the intended mid-term outputs and results. This implies an emphasis on 
the  adequacy  and  quality  of  the  programme  design,  i.e.  the  formulated  objectives,  the  invested 
resources, and the activities implemented – in other words, the relevance and coherence criteria. 

For more details on the methodology, please refer to the accompanying Staff Working Document. 

V. 

EVALUATION FINDINGS 

This section provides the main findings of the evaluation according to the five evaluation criteria as 
set out above.  

A.  Relevance 

COSME  contributes  to  the  main  priority  of  the  Juncker  Commission,  namely  boosting  growth  and 
jobs, through several actions, including improving access to finance, creating network opportunities, 
promoting the exchange of information and good practise as well as access of the EU SMEs to new 
markets. COSME is a programme for all EU SMEs which constitutes one of its main strengths.  

The  programme  implements  the  Commission's  policy  priorities,  including  the  Small  Business  Act 
(SBA), the Single Market Strategy (2015) and the Start-up and Scale-up Initiative (2016). There is also 
a strong alignment with the evolving needs of SMEs in Europe.  

The outcome of surveys shows that both intermediaries and beneficiary SMEs consider the actions 
under COSME to be relevant and corresponding to their needs, both in terms of the conditions set 
and their content. The  relevance  of the  programme for EU citizens is high, thanks  to the  focus on 
fostering economic growth and the creation of employment opportunities.  

The relevance of the programme is more limited regarding areas beyond the economic sphere, e.g. 
those related to societal challenges, and some of the objectives defined in the EU2020 strategy such 
as  Inclusive  and  Sustainable  Growth.  COSME  responds  to  these  objectives  mainly  in  an  indirect 
manner. 

The flexibility of COSME is a key asset. It allows the implementation of new policy priorities through 
launching new actions and through steering funding towards areas that constitute a priority. In this 
respect, several changes in the allocation of the budget were proposed and executed during the first 
three years of the implementation. 

The  main  weakness  regarding  relevance  (but  also  effectiveness  as  discussed  next),  relates  to  the 
structure  of  the  programme.  The  two  main  actions,  the  financial  instruments  and  the  Enterprise 
Europe  Network,  account  for  more  than  80%  of  the  total  budget  as  stipulated  in  the  COSME 
regulation.  In  consequence,  the  budget  for  other,  smaller  actions  is  very  limited.  This  reduces,  in 
some cases, the potential impact of these actions. 

B.  Effectiveness 

Between 2014-2016, COSME  has overall been successful in reaching the expected outputs such as 
the  number of  SMEs  benefiting  from  debt  financing or  number  of events organised.  The  available 
evidence  suggests  that  COSME  will  have  a  positive  impact  on  its  beneficiaries’  growth  and 
employment.  

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The strength of COSME lies in particular in the use of intermediaries for the implementation of the 
programme.  COSME  exploits  the  proximity  of  these  intermediaries  to  SMEs  and  facilitates  the 
integration  of  services  provided  under  the  COSME  framework  with  services  provided  by  these 
intermediaries in their national and regional contexts. This approach allows COSME to maximise its 
potential for reaching the desired effects. 

Access to finance 

The  Loan  Guarantee  Facility  and  the  Equity  Facility  for  Growth  financial  instruments  are  highly 
effective for beneficiary SMEs. Especially the Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) reached a considerable 
number of SMEs, proposed overall more favourable financing terms, demonstrated high leverage in 
SME  financing, and increased the  supply  of debt  finance  in most Member States.  However, it was 
pointed out that the threshold of EUR 150 000 above which the financial intermediaries must check 
if  the  SME  does  not  meet  any  of  the  innovation  criteria  established  under  the  Horizon  2020  debt 
financial instrument for SMEs created a negative effect. The intermediaries are induced to limit their 
financial offer to this threshold while the threshold is deemed inadequate to the financing needs of 
many SMEs.  

The progress under the Equity Facility for Growth (EFG) is more limited due to the lengthy time-to-
financing inherent to equity investments and the preference given to the equity instrument put in 
place under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in 2016.  

Under the Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF), more than 60 financial intermediaries in 25 countries are 
involved as per 31 December 2016, supporting more than 140 000 SMEs, out of which 50% are start-
ups  with  an  operating  history  of  less  than  five  years  and  90%  of  supported  businesses  are  micro 
enterprises.  

The LGF allowed for an increase in the number and volume of financing transactions to higher risk 
SMEs (the EUR 611.17 million of signed guarantee agreements in 2014-2016 allowed for a financing 
volume of EUR 5.5 billion). Most surveyed financial intermediaries indicated that the LGF instrument 
considerably improved their ability to provide credit risk coverage or credit. The survey also showed 
that in general, the COSME guarantee triggered significant additional investments, estimated in total 
EUR  1.25  billion.  SMEs  surveyed  indicated  positive  impacts  on  their  growth  perspectives,  both  for 
EFG and LGF.  

Access to markets 

The  Europe  Enterprise  Network  (EEN)  has  shown  a  strong  capacity  to  reach  SMEs  throughout 
Europe,  including  150,000  SMEs  that  participated  in  the  EEN  co-operation  and  advisory  services. 
Thanks to the EEN, over 8,000 SMEs set up cooperation agreements with SMEs ‘across the border’ or 
implemented  recommendations  of  the  new  EEN  advisory  services.  The  EEN  services  mainly 
supported SMEs in improving the quality of their goods and services, leading to (expected) growth in 
turnover  and  especially,  entry  to  new  geographical  markets,  both  in  Europe  and  beyond.  The 
Network services are widely used and appreciated by the client SMEs. The Network shows significant 
results  in  terms  of  outputs  especially  in  the  business  cooperation  services,  in  providing  advice, 
helping SMEs to overcome obstacles related to innovation and business management and enabling 
valuable  business  relationships  between  SMEs.  The  Network  also  created  outcomes  for  the 
intermediaries  themselves,  including  increased  knowledge,  strategic  intelligence  and  cooperation 
with other Network members to increase the quality of the services. 

In addition to the EEN services, the "Your Europe Business" portal acts as key source for information. 
It  informs  about  rights  and  obligations  when  starting  and/or  managing  a  business  in  a  European 
country  and  has  attracted  visitors  beyond  expectation.  Monitoring  data  indicate  that  the  Portal 
reaches 2,9 million unique visitors (as a basis of comparison, the COSME regulation set a long term 

7 

 
 
milestone for the EEN set as 2,3 million users for the digital services). The satisfaction rates among 
users are also high (93% and the target was set at 85% in the COSME work programme for 2016).   

The  Clusters  Go  International  (CGI)  action  involves  25  European  Strategic  Cluster  Partnerships 
(ESCPs), representing 145 cluster organisations across 23 European countries and more than 17,000 
European SMEs. Only 15 out of the 25 selected ESCPs were funded, due to budget constraints; the 
other 10 were awarded the ESCP label and encouraged to continue their partnerships on a voluntary 
basis, without COSME funding. The 15 co-funded partnerships account for approximately 95 clusters 
reaching  out  to  over  10,300  European  SMEs.  Official  European  partnerships  between  the  clusters 
have been created, as well as the first ‘global’ partnerships.  

The  improvement  in  understanding  the  internationalisation  process  and  the  enhancement  of  the 
cluster  managers’  capacities  to  support  internationalisation  were  key  outcomes  as  well  as  the 
creation  of  new  international  business  relationships.  A  stronger  international  profile  and  visibility 
can be considered among the more widely achieved medium-term results.  

Improving framework conditions for competitiveness 

Initiatives  supporting  sectoral  competitiveness  consists  mostly  of  one-off  actions  with  a  limited 
budget  which  target  a  broad  range  of  sectors.  According  to  the  beneficiaries  of  the  tourism 
programme, direct results include the creation of new strategic partnerships across borders and an 
increased visibility in international markets. While few SMEs were directly involved, the involvement 
of  professional  associations  and  local,  regional  and  national  public  tourism  agencies  created  the 
basis for significant multiplier effects. New tourism products and services are being developed and 
there are high expectations among the participants on the possibilities to enter into new markets.  

The  Small  Business  Act  (SBA)  Implementation  actions  successfully  provided  quality  information  to 
national  policy-makers  through  the  publication  of  the  SME  Performance  Review  and  provided  a 
highly  appreciated  platform  for  information  and  good  practice  sharing  through  the  SME  Envoys 
Network.  There  is  a  general  perception  that  these  activities  contribute  to  a  convergence  of  SME 
policies across COSME countries.   

Entrepreneurship 

Erasmus  for  Young  Entrepreneurs  (EYE)  was  successful  in  reaching  its  expected  goals.  It  involved 
around  3.500  Entrepreneurs.  It  is  estimated  that  participation  of  New  Entrepreneurs  in  the 
programme  led  to  the  creation  of  250  new  companies,  EUR  5  million  of  additional  turnover  and 
about  1,000  new  jobs  over  the  period  2014-2016.  At  the  same  time  the  participation  of  Host 
Entrepreneurs is linked to EUR 203million additional turnover and over 1, 100 new jobs. It has also 
laid the ground for important outcomes in terms of business relationships and internationalisation, 
both  for  the  New  and  Host  Entrepreneurs.  In  2014-2016,  in  total  2,117  placements  were 
undertaken.  It  is  estimated  that  around  1,800  potential  new  entrepreneurs  improved  their 
management  and  technical  skills  because  of  EYE  while  some  ones  have  improved  other  business 
skills (marketing, administration, finance).  

Participants  stated  that  their  EYE  experience  had  improved  their  understanding  of  the  challenges 
faced by entrepreneurs. EYE also brought direct effects for Hosts, in terms of supporting innovation 
within their business and growth rates considerably higher than the EU average. The EYE programme 
also  reached  its  objectives  in  strengthening  business  relationships  and  laying  the  groundwork  for 
further  cooperation  and  internationalisation,  thanks  to  the  creation  of  significant  networking 
opportunities.  

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C.  Efficiency 

Overall, COSME is operating at a reasonable level of efficiency, with its main components all being 
implemented  in  line  with  the  specific  objectives  and  timetables  set  out  in  the  annual  work 
programmes. The main strength of COSME is the clarity of its work programme descriptions, leading 
to  a  relatively  small  share  of  ineligible  proposals  responding  to  the  calls  for  grants.  No  major 
administrative  bottlenecks  were  identified  and  the  simplification  measures  that  were  introduced 
were overall considered as positive, even though there were issues in EASME with the new IT system 
in the first year of operation that generated difficulties for the beneficiaries. 

The implementation of COSME is mainly delegated to EASME (non-financial actions) and to the EIF 
(financial instruments). EASME implemented a budget of EUR 298 million for the period 2014-2016 
and the EIF a budget of EUR  550 million dedicated to SMEs for the COSME financial instruments.  

In general, both intermediaries and final beneficiaries find costs and burdens related to the use of 
COSME  affordable  and  acceptable.  Even  though  in  some  cases,  the  administrative  burden  was 
perceived  as  high,  the  general  feedback  was  that  the  benefits  outweigh  the  costs.    The  financial 
intermediaries  indicated  that  the  reporting  requirements  were  burdensome  and  risk  reducing  the 
attractiveness of the LGF. Financial intermediaries also argued that the EFG’s administrative burden 
was  substantially  higher  than  usual  in  the  Venture  Capital  (VC)  sector.  However,  those  SMEs  that 
benefitted  from  the  LGF  indicated  that  they  did  not  experience  additional  costs,  administrative 
burden or complexity because of the EU guarantee.   

All SMEs, and, in particular, the micro and small firms, rated the borrowing terms of their financing 
supported  by  an  EU-COSME  guarantee  as  more  favourable  than  those  provided  by  other  financial 
intermediaries for similar funding. Beneficiary SMEs in other thematic areas of COSME also perceive 
that the benefits outweigh the costs.  

Regarding the  EASME's  management of  COSME, the time-to-grant for the open calls was shorter 
than  the  target  set  by  EASME  while  the  level  of  competition,  the  number  of  proposals  and  the  
'eligible  proposals  success  rate'  vary  considerably  among  the  different  actions.  It  is  important  to 
notice  that  COSME  finances  a  large  number  of  small  actions  requiring  the  involvement  of  a 
proportionally high number of staff.   

On the shortcomings, the midterm evaluation shows that the management of COSME data needs to 
be  improved.  The  spread  of  the  implementation  responsibilities  over  the  many  actors  involved 
creates a considerable challenge to efficient programme management and coordination, with a risk 
of weakened programme oversight and evaluation. A stronger attention to the collection of data on 
the  profile  of  the  beneficiaries  is  needed  to  allow  for  a  proper  monitoring  of  the  programme 
outcomes and progress towards reaching its objectives. 

D.  Coherence 

Overall,  COSME  programme  shows  a  good  level  of  internal  coherence.  Efforts  are  made  to  create 
synergies  and  no  substantial  overlaps  were  identified.  A  lot  of  attention  is  dedicated  to  reaching 
complementarities  among  the  different  actions,  especially 
in  the  areas  of  the  EEN  and 
internationalisation. The EU-Japan Centre and the IPR Helpdesks, for instance, are both cooperating 
with the EEN. Collaboration between the Clusters Internationalisation programme and the EU-Japan 
Centre allowed for support to the cluster partnerships on internationalisation. The IPR Helpdesk and 
the  EEN  Network  experts  are  encouraged  to  get  involved  in  the  European  Cluster  Collaboration 
Platform events as well. 

Regarding  the  Entrepreneurship  objective,  the  overlap  between  stakeholders  across  the  portfolio 
was minimal, since most actions call for the engagement of a specific group of partners with precise 

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fields of expertise. The actions of the thematic area 'Framework Conditions in the Single Market' are 
not overlapping with each other: each action is addressing different aspects of the Single Market.  

The  picture  regarding  the  coherence  between  the  different  communication  activities  in  COSME  - 
mainly web sites related to the financial instruments and the entrepreneurship actions is somewhat 
mixed. The web sites on the financial instruments provide clear information while those concerning 
the entrepreneurship actions appeared to be  run in isolation from each other with no interaction. 
The assessment is positive in relation to the synergies and complementarities created between the 
"Your  Europe  Business"  portal  and  the  EEN  services,  and  between  other  COSME  activities  geared 
towards internationalisation such as the EEN and "Clusters Go International" programme. 

The analysis shows that there are both synergies and overlaps among the EU financial instruments. 
There  is  clear  evidence  of  synergy  between  the  COSME  LGF  and  the  EFSI  SME  Window,  since  this 
EFSI  intervention  is  channelled  through  the  LGF.  Overlaps  between  the  COSME  LGF  and  financial 
instruments under ESIF may occur. There is a clear crowding out of the EFG by the EFSI SME Window 
(as intended by the Commission when creating the EFSI SME Window in 2016). 

There  is  an  overall  coherence  between  COSME  and  Horizon  2020  financial  instruments.  The  2016 
evaluation  of  the  Investment  Plan  concluded  that  EFSI,  COSME  and  Horizon  2020  Innovfin 
complement each other well. The coordination between the EEN activities in COSME and the H2020 
programme constitutes a prime example of coherence with other EU initiatives. It is highly praised 
by many stakeholders.   

Regarding  the  SME  internationalisation  there  are  no  major  overlaps  between  the  COSME-funded 
activities  and  the  activities  funded  under  Horizon  2020.  The  Commission  initiatives  in  the  field  of 
SME  internationalisation  are  mainly  carried  out  through  COSME.  However,  there  are  some 
significant  programmes  in Horizon 2020 that implicitly or indirectly can help SMEs  internationalise 
and  innovate.  A  prime  example  is  the  Horizon  2020-INNOSUP15  initiative  that  addresses  the 
challenge to develop new cross-sectoral industrial value chains across the EU by building upon the 
innovation potential of SMEs. 

The  available  information  does  not  show  any  substantial  overlaps  between  the  EEN  services,  the 
SME/Cluster  internationalisation  actions  and  the  actions  funded  by  other  EU  initiatives.  These  EU 
initiatives  include  the  ERDF  operational  programmes  and  INTERREG  and  the  EU  Gateway  and 
Business Avenues initiatives.   

The EEN services funded under COSME and the ERDF Operational Program are in most cases highly 
complementary. While the ERDF's focus is, in general, on the regional environment, the EEN COSME 
services focus mainly on cross-border cooperation. The EU Gateway and Business Avenues initiatives 
support European companies to establish business collaboration in Asia (including Japan, Korea and 
South-East Asian countries). The evaluation showed that there is regular collaboration between the 
EEN  and  the  EU  Gateway  and  Business  Avenues  initiatives.  In  addition,  synergies  between  other 
COSME actions such as the EU Japan Centre and the IPR Helpdesks l were also found.  

Initiatives  to  promote  and  support  entrepreneurship  are  set  out 
in  the  Commission 
Entrepreneurship  2020  Action  Plan16.  Many  of  these  measures  are  funded  through  COSME. 
However, other  actions with a similar focus get  funding from other EU programmes,  including the 
support  to  several  networks  helping women  to  become  entrepreneurs,  the  Erasmus+  programme, 
the  EU  programme  for  Employment  and  Social  Innovation  (EaSI)  and  the  European  Structural  and 

15 Innovation support to small businesses, https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/innosup 
16 https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/promoting-entrepreneurship/action-plan_en 

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Investment  Funds  (ESIF).  While  all  these  actions  share  a  common  objective,  there  are  no  evident 
overlaps  between  them.  Complementarity  is  reached  predominantly  by  the  use  of  different 
instruments. 

At  the  same  time  the  midterm  evaluation  shows  that  the  interplay  between  the  EU,  national  and 
regional  levels  of  support  for  SMEs  is  not  always  synergistic  and  complementary,  even  though  no 
substantial overlaps were identified. For actions where proximity to the SME communities is a strong 
enabling  factor,  better  coordination  with  national  and  regional  actions  would  further  improve 
coherence. This is especially the case for the EEN services and the COSME actions supporting cluster 
organisations. 

E.  European Union added value 

Each programme financed by the EU should provide a tangible EU added value. This means it should 
be  clearly  contributing  to  the  promotion  of  the  European  Union  values  and  standards.  The  EU 
financed actions should complement, enhance and support national, regional and local actions.  

COSME  financial  instruments,  especially  the  Loan  Guarantee  Facility,  provide  important  financial 
leverage  that  allows  national  and  regional  intermediaries  to  provide  lending  products  that  have  a 
higher risk profile compared to their normal product offering. It also offers support to a substantially 
larger  number  of  businesses  than  they  might  otherwise  be  able  to  service.  Furthermore,  national 
support  programmes,  especially  in  smaller  markets,  have  higher  leverage  when  combined  with  an 
EU-level programme. Stakeholders and intermediaries generally agree that no private institutions or 
participating country alone could have achieved the results that COSME has managed to achieve in 
terms of leverage effects, scope and risk profile of the SMEs involved.  

Most  of the  LGF intermediaries  regarded public support at the  EU level as decisive  and felt  that  a 
European programme can achieve results that a national programme would not be able to achieve. 
The LGF enabled them to offer a guarantee instrument at more favourable conditions (lower interest 
rates and fees, lower collateral requests) to a higher number of SMEs. In addition, in some countries, 
national level programmes that support access to finance for SMEs do not exist. The “EU trademark” 
helps to build up trust among potential beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the evaluation result pointed to 
the fact that the LGF has not sufficiently reached the less mature financial markets and that a more 
targeted approach would be preferable.  

The EFG intermediaries consulted in the context of this evaluation all agreed that the provision of 
equity financing is more efficient at the EU level and allows for realising a wider scope and range of 
support than national and regional programmes. 

The European dimension is also at the core of the Enterprise Europe Network and its services. The 
Network  implements  the  actions  that  otherwise  would  not  be  possible  thanks  to  the  scale  and 
quality of the provided service.  The European dimension is crucial, especially for those services that 
have  a  cross-border  element,  which  is  an  aspect  of  SME  support  that  typically  is  not  covered  in 
similar programmes at national/regional levels.  

At  national/local  level  there  are  many  different  types  of  interventions  designed  to  promote 
entrepreneurship and start-ups at the early stage of their life. Most of the  smaller COSME-funded 
entrepreneurship  actions  aim  to  bring  together  the  national  stakeholders  and  initiatives  in  the 
various  areas  of  entrepreneurship.  In  emerging  areas  (e.g.  migrant  entrepreneurship),  COSME 
actions are taking a leading role in supporting national measures.  

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The  EYE  programme  has  also  a  strong  EU  cross-border  remit  and  objectives.  It  enables  mobility 
throughout Europe, matching young entrepreneurs with their hosts in other countries and offering 
opportunities to learn and to meet business contacts across the Single Market. It does so at a scale 
that would be impossible to achieve at the national level.  

For the other COSME action lines, the benefit of their implementation at the European rather than 
national or regional levels is also very high. Examples of such actions include eSkills, tourism actions 
bringing  together  actors  in  European  value  chains  and  Clusters  Go  International  programme 
fostering  European  partnerships  among  clusters  in  order  jointly  to  develop  and  implement 
internationalisation  strategies.  Moreover,  the  SME  policy  actions  which  provide  strategic 
information  as  well  as  network  opportunities  for  national  policymakers,  foster  the  SME  policy-
making  as  well  as  convergence  among  the  national  SME  policy  measures.  The  scale  and  depth  of 
support  that  COSME  offers  goes  well  beyond  the  support  that  can  be  offered  to  European  SME 
through national or regional initiatives. 

V. CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED 

The interim evaluation of COSME gives a positive overview of the programme implementation and 
results  achieved  during  the  first  three  years  of  the  programming  period.  The  programme 
implementation  is  on  track  to  reach  the  objectives  set  out  in  the  legal  basis  by  the  end  of  2020. 
However, it must be noted that the findings of this evaluation are limited to the evaluation period 
and do not yet provide full impact of the COSME programme. 

COSME actions are highly relevant in addressing the challenges related to fostering economic growth 
and creating employment opportunities. However, their impact is more limited in addressing global 
and societal challenges. There is, thus, scope for a better integration of these objectives in COSME 
projects and for a wider use of the existing COSME instruments, in particular the EEN to help SMEs 
address societal challenges.  

Most COSME actions, the financial instruments, the Enterprise Europe Network, Erasmus for Young 
Entrepreneurs, the  IPR  SME  helpdesks  or the  Clusters  are  the  continuation of  CIP  actions.  COSME 
has overall been successful in reaching the expected outputs. The strength of the programme lies in 
particular  in  the  use  of  intermediaries  for  the  implementation  of  the  programme. COSME  exploits 
the proximity of these intermediaries to SMEs and facilitates the integration of services provided by 
COSME with services provided by these intermediaries in their national and regional contexts.  

Overall, COSME is operating at a reasonable level of efficiency. The actions are implemented in line 
with  the  specific  objectives  and  timetables  set  out  in  the  annual  work  programmes.  A  substantial 
majority  of  intermediaries  and  final  beneficiaries  report  a  good  cost-benefit  ratio  for  their 
participation.  However,  a  high  number  of  small  actions  reduces  the  cost-effectiveness  of  COSME 
implementation  by  EASME.  The  fragmentation  will  be  addressed  in  the  COSME  annual  work 
programmes  until  the  end  of  the  programming  period  by  prioritising  bigger  and  strategic  actions 
which implement  the  Commission policy priorities while  keeping a limited number  of smaller pilot 
actions to keep the flexibility of the programme. 

The  Commission,  EASME  and  the  EIF  implement  COSME.  This makes  an efficient  coordination  and 
management  of  the  programme  challenging.  However,  the  quality  of  the  data  management 
regarding non-financial actions needs to be stepped up in order to have a complete set of data on 
the activities, outputs and beneficiaries of the programme.  

There are no major overlaps with other EU, national or regional programmes but better coordination 
with  national  and  regional  actions  would  further  improve  coherence.  The  improved  data 

12 

 
 
 
management and easier access to the monitoring data at country/regional level will allow Member 
States to report on overlaps and to increase synergies. 

COSME  has  a  good  level  of  European  added  value.  The  European  dimension  constitutes  the  very 
essence  of  the  design  of  COSME  actions.  In  several  cases,  the  COSME  actions have  not  only  been 
additional to, but have also helped in enhancing national, regional and local level measures. 

Last but not least, the midterm evaluation will pave the way for the final evaluation of COSME that 
will also feed the detailed design of the first work programmes of the period post 2020. Preliminary 
findings  of  the  interim  evaluation  have  informed  the  impact  assessments  on  Single  Market  and 
Invest EU programmes for the next Multi-annual Financial Framework 2021-2027. 

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