REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL COSME 2014-2020 Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs 2017 Monitoring Report
Date: 2021-11-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, EU programme, aid to undertakings, climate change policy, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, financial control, market access, small and medium-sized enterprises

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.11.2021  COM(2021) 684 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL COSME     2014-2020 Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs         2017 Monitoring Report  
 
 
Table of Contents 

1. 

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 2 

2.  Activities and results 2017 .......................................................................................................... 2 

2.1 Objective A: Access to Finance .................................................................................................. 3 

2.2 

2.3 

2.4 

Objective B: Access to markets ........................................................................................... 5 

Objective C: Improving Framework Conditions and Competitiveness ................................ 7 

Objective D: Promoting Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Culture ............................ 9 

3. 

Support measures and Administrative Expenditure ................................................................... 9 

4.  Contribution to the Climate Mainstreaming objective ............................................................. 10 

5.  Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 11 

6.  ANNEX ....................................................................................................................................... 12 

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1.  Introduction  

COSME  is  an  EU  programme  to  improve  the  competitiveness  of  enterprises,  especially  small  and 
medium-sized  enterprises  (SMEs).  It  builds  on  the  2007-2013  entrepreneurship  and  innovation 
programme  (EIP)  established  under  the  competitiveness  and  innovation  framework  programme.  It 
seeks  to  optimise  links  with  other  EU  spending  programmes,  in  particular  the  European  Structural 
and  Investment  Funds  and  Horizon  2020,  which  includes  the  innovation  activities  that  were 
previously part of the EIP.  

COSME adds value by addressing transnational issues and market failures in four key areas1: 

1. 

Improving access to finance for SMEs in the form of equity and debt (at least 60% of the total 
budget); 
Improving access to markets inside and outside the EU (21.5%); 
Improving framework conditions and competitiveness for businesses, including SMEs (11%); 

2. 
3. 
4.  Promoting entrepreneurship (2.5%). 

In  addition  to  the  282  EU  Member  States,  the  following  countries  participated  in  COSME  in  2017: 
Iceland,  Albania,  Bosnia  &  Herzegovina,  Montenegro,  North  Macedonia,  Serbia,  Turkey,  Armenia, 
Moldova and Ukraine. 

The  Commission  is  responsible  for  the  overall  implementation  of  COSME.  The  first  objective  is 
implemented  through  the  financial  instruments  entrusted  to  the  European  Investment  Fund  (EIF). 
Actions  under  Objectives  2,  3  and  4  are  largely  delegated  to  the  European  Innovation  Council  and 
international 
SME  Executive  Agency  (EISMEA)  (formerly  ‘EASME’).  Indirect  management  by 
organisations is also envisaged for certain analytical and benchmarking activities.  

This  report  gives  an  overview  of  the  COSME  budget  implementation  in  2017,  as  required  by  the 
regulation.  Given  the  multiannual  nature  of  many  projects,  the  decision  was  taken  to  delay  the 
publication  in  order  to  allow  the  inclusion  of  comprehensive  results  and  data  in  the  report.  The 
report includes support measures, administrative expenses, as well as activities for 2018 as indicated 
in the relevant project fiches3. 

2.  Activities and results 2017 

The  overall  planned  budget  for  COSME  in  2014-2020  (7  years)  is  EUR  2.3  billion  including 
administrative  costs.  The  financial  commitments  are  planned  to  increase  progressively  up  to  2020 
(the  programme’s  final year).  An  annual work programme  with accompanying  support measures  is 
set for each year.  

1 Regulation (EU) N° 1287/2013 of the European parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 EUR-Lex 
- 32013R1287 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu). 
2 EU-27 + UK, with UK being part of the European Union at the time of the project execution. 
3 Programming, monitoring and evaluation | Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (europa.eu) 

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The  COSME  budget  is  implemented  through  four  budget  lines with appropriations specified  by  the 
financing decisions for 20174.  

After  adding  contributions  from  third  countries,  unused  appropriations  from  the  previous 
programming period and miscellaneous transfers, the budget available for 2017 was: 

(a) budget line 02 01 04 01 for administrative expenditure: EUR 3 164 426 
(b) budget line 02 01 06 01 for the functioning of the EASME agency: EUR 9 235 235  
(c) budget line 02 02 01 for all other operational expenditure: EUR 134 588 560 
(d) budget line 02 02 02 for access to finance operational expenditure: EUR 258 782 633 

The financing decision for support measures5 provides for a contribution of EUR 7 725 000, included 
in the budget line 02 02 01 of the EU’s general budget for 2017. 

On average, 84% of COSME’s activities (exception: access to finance) were delegated to EASME6. 

In  total,  98%  of  the  EUR  405  million  euros  available  were  committed.  For  payments,  the 
implementation rate was on average 83%.   

2.1 Objective A: Access to finance 

The COSME Regulation specifies that  at least 60% of the total budget (EUR 1.4 billion)  should  be 
allocated to the financial instruments for 2014-2020. 

In 2017, access to finance represented 64% of COSME’s financial envelope. 

EUR 258 million was available for the financial instruments and accompanying actions, including EFTA 
and third countries’ participation. 

EUR 114.5 was committed for the Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) and EUR 124.4 million for the Equity 
Facility for Growth (EFG).  

In  2017,  EUR  0.7  million  was  committed  for  accompanying  actions,  including  a  survey  on  SMEs’ 
access  to  finance  (EUR  570 272.46), 
information  to  SMEs  about  access  to  EU  financing 
(EUR 149 607.50) and workshops on the Banking Union and Capital Markets Union (EUR 15 000).  

Loan Guarantee Facility (this information covers 2017 and 2018)  

By the end of 2018, 117 guarantee agreements had been signed with 93 financial intermediaries (23 
new agreements signed in 2017, 24 in 2018) in 28 countries (24 EU and 4 third countries) for a total 
of EUR 1.2 billion, and the LGF had already provided around EUR 22.8 billion to 414 739 SMEs in 27 
countries. For the 117 operations signed by the end of 2018, more than EUR 36 billion is expected to 
be made available to SMEs. 

4 Financing decision and work programme C(2016)7033 and revisions C(2017)1042 (integrating the fund-of-
funds initiative), C(2017)4563 and C(2018)4308.   
5 Support measures C(2017)583. 
6 SEC(2013) 493 final. 

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Textbox 1. Highlight of the LGF project - Agrifarm (Greece) 

Agrifarm (Greece): company supported with a COSME LGF loan 

Agrifarm, founded in 2014, has put in place an innovative form of collaborative production and 
standardisation of naturally-grown agricultural products - mainly pulses and rice. The production 
is based on intelligent agricultural management, maintaining natural resources and without the 
extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides. The company provides expertise to farmers, buys their 
produce and exports it to the UK, US, Canada and Italy, building a strong relationship of trust and 
reliability with producers in an often unstable market. 

Working closely with academic institutions, the company aims to bring the consumer as close as 
possible  to  the  source  with  full  transparency,  respect  for  the  environment  and  a  strong  social 
impact dimension. All packaging, for example, is cotton-based, thus avoiding plastic materials 

As  the  company  grows,  its  president,  Dimitris  -  himself  a  fourth  generation  farmer  has  sought 
financing through Eurobank, in the form of an EU-guaranteed loan backed by EIF under COSME 
LGF and EFSI. ‘With demand growing, we needed to secure supplies of raw materials and expand 
our partnerships. We really needed to increase our capacity. Securing financing wasn’t easy and 
the support we received was of critical importance in this respect”. 

Equity Facility for Growth (EFG) (this information covers 2017 and 2018) 

Number  of  operations:  7  signed  by  EIF  (3  in  2017,  4  in  2018),  mostly  to  establish  growth  and 
expansion funds, but also including multi-stage funds, reaching a total of 15 operations at the end of 
2018 (10 for growth and expansion stage funds, 4 for multi-stage funds operating with the InnovFin 
Equity Facility for Early Stage set up under Horizon 2020).  

Total expected amount of investments for eligible final recipients: over EUR 771 million (by the end 
of 2018, 38 eligible final recipients in 12 countries had received EUR 289 704 756). During this period, 
the  EFG  also  contributed  to  the  pan-European  Venture  Capital  (VC)  fund-of-funds  programme 
(VentureEU)  that  was  launched  to  tackle  bottlenecks  in  the  field  of  VC  financing  in  EU.  The  main 
recipient was Axon Partners Group. 

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Textbox 2. Highlight of the EFG project – Echolight 

Succes story: Echolight (received investment via COSME EFG) 

Although  its  debilitating  effects  can  be  prevented  with  early  detection,  Osteoporosis  is  widely 
under-diagnosed or diagnosed late. 

To address this, the medical technology company, Echolight – which is based in Puglia, Italy, has 
developed the REMS (Radiofrequency Echography Multi Spectrometry) technique, an innovative, 
patented  solution  to  diagnose  osteoporosis  at  an  early  stage,  through  a  radiation-free 
echography. The test can evaluate bone strength in less than 5 minutes. Echolight also offers a 
reliable, accessible and cost-effective non-ionizing monitoring solution. 

In  2016,  the  company  sought  investment  to  support  the  clinical  validation  of  this  innovative 
technology  and  also  to  invest  in  marketing  and  lowering  production  costs.  Panakés,  an  EIF 
backed venture capital fund that specialises in medical companies, invested in Echolight, helping 
the  company  hire  a  number  of  scientists  to  carry  out  clinical  studies  in  15  different  hospitals 
across Europe. 

Accompanying actions (this information covers 2017 and 2018) 

The SAFE survey gathers information on the financial situation, financing needs, access to financing 
and  expectations  of  SMEs.  The  results  are  published  online  and  can  be  used  by  Member  States, 
analysts, academia and others. A total of 17 532 firms across 34 countries were surveyed in 2017 and 
17 848 firms across 36 countries in 2018. 

The  Commission  also  continued  to  update  and  promote  the  Acces2Finance  website  that  provides 
information to SMEs on how to access financing from 10 different EU programmes in 42 countries. It 
also helped SMEs to look  for  EU  financial  support  for  clean tech and climate,  in line  with COSME’s 
climate change objectives. The number of webpage views stood at 640 000 in 2017 and 631 000 in 
2018. 

Finally, the workshop on the Banking Union and Capital Markets Union held in 2018 was deemed a 
success. It was attended by more than 20 experts who helped formulate a list of recommendations. 

2.2 Objective B: Access to markets 

The COSME Regulation specifies that 21.5% of the total budget should be devoted to easing access 
to markets. 

In 2017, EUR 71million was dedicated to the internationalisation of SMEs. 

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Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) (this information covers 2017 and 2018) 

Objective:  provide  integrated  business  support  services  to  companies  who  seek  to  innovate,  grow 
and  explore  opportunities  in  the  single  market  and  third  countries.  (The  EEN  provides  services  to 
around 250 000 SMEs every year, including specialised advisory services to some 70 000 SMEs.) 

Results:  

  Network partnering services helped SME clients from all network countries form over 5 700 

international partnership agreements with foreign companies  

  Network  advisory  support  services  helped  around  4 000  clients 

improve 

their 

competitiveness and innovation at European level  

  Digital services reached 16.8 million SMEs  

 

Improved quality, efficiency and relevance of services for European SMEs 

Next steps: Cement progress made so far; prepare for next phase under the post-2021 framework. 

Textbox 3. Highlight of the project EEN 

SME  clients  are  systematically asked about the impact of their interaction with the Network in 
terms  of  market  improvement,  positive  impact  on  jobs,  improvement  in  competitiveness 
through innovation, cost savings and quality improvements.  

In years 2 and 3,  

  90%  of  clients  said  they  expected  their  market  situation  to  improve  thanks  to 

Network support.  

  More than 50% felt that the support would improve their competitiveness. 
  nearly 60% that it would help them preserve or create jobs.  

Not  surprisingly,  the  results  of  the  client  satisfaction  survey  showed  that  88%  of  respondents 
were  satisfied  or  very  satisfied  with  network  services,  up  from  86%  in  2015-2016,  while  92% 
would recommend the services to others. 

Other activities (this information covers 2017 and 2018) 

Over  400  SMEs  have  already  benefited  from  services  related  to  IP  pre-diagnostics  and  improving 
access to patent protection for innovative EU SMEs though the IPA4SME project. One such service is 
free  IP  pre-diagnostics  with  a  verified  IP  expert  who  provides  a  customised  report  on  IP  business 
strategy and recommendations on how to efficiently and securely exploit the assets. This is currently 
available  to  SMEs  registered  in  Austria,  Denmark,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia, 
Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.  

6 

 
 
 
 
Around 90% of the SMEs that benefited from this service said  that the IP pre-diagnostic report is a 
useful resource for defining and implementing their IP protection and valorisation strategy, and more 
than 90% said they would recommend the service to other innovative SMEs. 

To  support  the  creation  of  an 
innovation-friendly  business  environment  and  the  overall 
competitiveness  of  the  European  economy,  the  InnoBroker  project  developed  an  Innovation 
Procurement Broker (IPB) business model that facilitates the procurement of innovative goods and 
services by bringing together contracting authorities, suppliers of innovation (with a special focus on 
SMEs and start-ups), investors, and researchers. The IPB business model and the main findings from 
the pilots were presented online on 30 July 2020. The recording is available at: 

www.innobrokers.eu  and 

https://innovation-procurement.org/innobrokers/.  

2.3 Objective C: Improving framework conditions and competitiveness 

The  COSME  Regulation  specifies  that  11%  of  the  total  budget  should  be  devoted  to  improving 
framework conditions and competitiveness. 

In 2017, EUR 33 million was allocated to this objective. 

The  funded  actions  aimed  to:  (a)  accelerate  the  uptake  of  big  data;  (b)  help  set  up  B2B  digital 
platforms in Europe; (c) create strategic cluster partnerships for smart specialisation investments; (d) 
promote the internationalisation of clusters; (e) improve cooperation on skills between key strategic 
EU  economic  sectors;  (f)  support  the  monitoring  of  digital  transformation  and  key  enabling 
technologies;  (g)  foster  collaboration  between  European  entrepreneurial  regions;  and  (h)  promote 
tourism and local and regional development.  

Clusters (this information covers 2017 and 2018) 

To boost industrial competitiveness and investment in the EU via cross-regional cooperation, COSME 
supports  the  European  strategic  cluster  partnerships  for  smart  specialisation  investments  (ESCP-
S3). These partnerships facilitate cluster cooperation in areas related to regional smart specialisation 
strategies and help increase the involvement of industry through their ‘smart specialisation platform 
for  industrial  modernisation’.  The  ESCP-S3  aims  to  encourage  collaboration  between  companies, 
especially SMEs, and their interaction with technology centres both in the cluster and across regions 
and sectors to help them set up joint actions and investment projects that will help them modernise 
and improve their business environment.  

Clusters  Go  International  in  the  defence  &  security  sector  helped  the  European  defence  and 
intensify  cross-border 
security-related  clusters  and  business  network  organisations  to  (a) 
collaboration with non-defence industrial clusters; and (b) to develop and implement joint strategies 
on dual use technologies, products and services for non-EU countries. By strengthening cooperation 
between clusters and business networks and helping shape European strategic cluster partnerships 
more strategically at European level, this action helped European SMEs, in particular in the European 
defence and security sector, access new global value chains. 

7 

 
 
 
 
Tourism 

A  study  was  carried  out  to  analyse  to  what  extent  the  European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund 
supported tourism activities in 2012-2018. It concluded that there is still a high demand by national 
and  regional  authorities  for  tourism-related  projects,  and  set  out  a  series  of  recommendations  for 
the next programming period (2021-2027).  

Another project - the European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) initiative - supported campaigns to 
increase the number of visitors (from both inside and outside the EU) to EDEN destinations. It also 
raised  awareness  on  sustainable  tourism  and  more  responsible  ways  of  travelling.  The  main 
beneficiaries  of  the  12  cofinanced  projects  were  Ministries  or  National  Tourism  Authorities,  which 
signed grant agreements lasting 15 or 18 months.  

Accelerating  the  uptake  of  big  data  and  supporting  the  establishment  of  B2B  Digital  Platforms  in 
Europe 

This action aims to accelerate the uptake of big data and support the establishment of B2B platforms 
in  Europe.  The  study  team  developed  two  technical  pilots  to  enhance  data  sharing,  along  with  an 
analysis  of  regulatory  barriers  and  market  deficiencies  which  informed  the  development  of  policy 
recommendations. The two pilots, one for each sector, were presented and discussed with  experts 
during workshops that took place between April 2019 and October 2020.  

For the healthcare sector, the pilot on a high quality, diabetes-related data repository demonstrates 
an architecture for the fair and equal sharing of health data from different sources and regions. For 
the  automotive  sector,  the  pilot  provides  an  approach  to  cooperative,  connected  and  automated 
mobility with the introduction of a ‘shared server solution’. 

Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills 

This Blueprint has helped SMEs from 10 EU Member States working in the automotive sector retain 
key skills and acquire new ones so that they can maintain and strengthen their competitive edge. It 
involved  collecting  and  disseminating  information  on  best  practices  and  up/reskilling  initiatives  (in 
particular for SMEs).  

Other initiatives have supported skills development and recruitment in the paper industry, the steel 
and  construction  sectors,  and  the  textile,  clothing,  leather  and  footwear  (TCLF)  sector,  in  line  with 
the EU strategies covering these areas.  

Textbox 4. Highlight of the project on Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills: construction 

The publication ‘European vision on steel-related skills and supporting actions to solve the skills 
gap today and tomorrow in Europe’ (available at the EU Publications Office) was presented at the 
project’s final conference. See: https://youtu.be/FjfXGg98PsM 

2.4 Objective D: Promoting entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture 

The  COSME  Regulation  specifies  that  2.5%  of  the  total  budget  should  be  devoted  to  promoting 
entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture. 

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In 2017, EUR 11.7 million was allocated to this objective, 77% of which was directed towards Erasmus 
for young entrepreneurs. 

Erasmus for young entrepreneurs 

This scheme allows potential or newly established entrepreneurs to collaborate with an experienced 
entrepreneur in another COSME participating country. In 2017-2018, 32 projects took place (through 
10  specific  grant  agreements  and  two  calls  for  proposals),  through  which  between  1000  and  1500 
novice  entrepreneurs  were  matched  with  more  experienced  ones.  The  exchanges  were  deemed  a 
success  by  more  than  90%  of  participants.  See  success  stories  and  testimonials  at:  www.erasmus-
entrepreneurs.eu.  

Social economy 

The Commission supported the action on ‘Promoting social considerations into public procurement 
procedures for social economy enterprises’ not only to create a level playing field for social economy 
enterprises so that they can compete effectively and fairly in the single market, but also to increase 
the  political  visibility  of  the  social  economy  ecosystem  as  being  crucial  for  employment  and  social 
cohesion across Europe. 

Textbox  5.  Highlight  of  the  project  on  promoting  social  considerations  into  public  procurement  procedures  for  social 
economy enterprises  

Available from the EU Publications Office, Buying for social impact - Good practice from around 
the  EU  sets  out  22  good  practices  from  12  EU  countries,  including  good  practices  for  public 
procurement  procedures  (13  examples),  and  for  policy  initiatives  and  support  structures  (9 
examples).  

3.  Support measures and administrative expenditure 

COSME  support  measures  are  financed  under  budget  line  02.0201.  In  2017,  EUR  7.7  million  was 
allocated to support measures. 

Conferences  and  meetings  were  organised  with  stakeholders  to  discuss  the  challenges  facing 
different  industrial  sectors.  For  Phase  II  of  the  project  on  Substitution  of  chemical  substances  of 
potential concern, recommendations fed into the ‘SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe’ 
(10  March  2020)  and  the  analysis  for  ‘Safe  and  sustainable-by-design  in  chemicals  strategy  for 
Sustainability’ (14 October 2020).  

The  Feasibility  study  on  intellectual  property  pre-diagnostic  (published  in  the  EU  bookshop)  which 
confirmed the feasibility of developing a IP-prediagnostic scheme at European level, was another key 
support measure.  Its  findings  have  been  used to help  develop IP  prediagnostic schemes  funded by 
COSME and Horizon 2020.  

The Chemicals Legislation finder (EUCLEF) is another notable action. Set up in 2017, EUCLEF enables 
EU  companies,  and  SMEs  in  particular,  to  access  information  on  the  rules  that  apply  to  any  given 
chemical  substance.  In  its  first  7  months  of  operation,  EUCLEF  was  consulted  more  than  30 000 
times.  

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Administrative  expenditure,  which  covered  studies,  expert  meetings,  and 
information  and 
communication  actions,  represented  3%  of  the  budget  in  2017.  It  covered  both  the  Commission’s 
(DG GROW’s) and EASME’s administrative expenses for a collective amount of EUR 12.3 million.  

4.  Contribution to the climate mainstreaming objective 

The  COSME  programme’s  contribution  to  the  climate  mainstreaming  objective,  set  for  all 
Commission programmes, has been estimated at EUR 23.9 million representing 6% of the financial 
allocation  in  2017.  This  covers  the  financial  instruments  (EUR  8  million)  and  the  EEN  (EUR  15.9 
million). 

For several COSME actions, such as the financial instruments, it is difficult to track the contribution to 
imposing  an  additional  administrative  burden  on  financial 
climate  mainstreaming  without 
intermediaries and the participating SMEs who are the final recipients. However, the EEN – while not 
having any formal climate-related deliverables, actively helps SMEs become more sustainable. Expert 
groups  focusing  on  sustainable  construction,  intelligent  energy,  environment  and  the  circular 
economy include more than 200 EEN staff members and  many EEN achievements (e.g. partnership 
agreements and advisory  service  outcomes) relate to these subjects.  However, it  is not  possible  to 
quantify the budget for the relevant 2017-2018 actions. 

The  circular  economy  was  also  one  of  the  main  themes  of  the  campaign  organised  under  the 
‘Creating  the  blueprint  for  sectoral  cooperation  on  skills:  showcasing  careers  in  the  TCLF  sector’ 
project  and  the  main  topic  in  most  of  the  submissions  received  from  students  and  young 
professionals  in  the  ‘Best  product  idea’  competition.  Because  of  COVID-19,  the  competition  and 
other  campaign  events  were  held  online,  thereby  reducing  the  environmental  impact  (while 
increasing the visibility and participation). 

Furthermore,  the  creation  of  a  Nanomaterials  Observatory  (EUON)  contributes  to  the  responsible 
development  and  use  of  nanomaterials,  which  are  known  to  be  key  enablers  in  the  technological 
solutions to reduce the impact of human activity on climate change. (For example, nanomaterials are 
used in solar and wind energy applications, and in reducing the weight of vehicles.) 

5.  Conclusion 

A full 97.5% of the programme’s operational budget, supporting access to finance, access to markets, 
a  favourable  environment  for  businesses,  competitiveness,  and  entrepreneurship  was  executed. 
Monitoring  ensured  that  the  budget  was  reallocated  to  the  most  successful  and  oversubscribed 
activities, such as reserve list projects and financial instruments.  

Access to finance was a key action area in 2017, representing 64% of the available budget. Under the 
Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF), 23 new agreements were signed in 2017 (and 24 in 2018), for a total of 
EUR 1.2 billion. The market demand for COSME LGF guarantees and counter guarantees continues to 
rise and its 2019 budget is expected to increase, partly by reallocating the COSME EFG budget and 
partly by increasing the EFSI top-up. Start-ups and smaller SMEs who find it hardest to access finance 

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due to their perceived higher risk or lack of sufficient collateral have particularly benefited from the 
enhanced LGF7. 

Enterprise  Europe  Network  (EEN)  played  an  essential  role  in  2017-2018,  supporting  over  200 000 
SMEs per year with intensive, high added-value services and reaching 16.8 million SMEs through its 
digital service offer. Around 3 000 network staff provided specialised advisory services each year and 
around  25 000  SMEs  participated  in  matchmaking  events,  resulting  in  some  2 500  international 
partnerships. EEN scale-up advisors were put in place in 2017 to help young innovative SMEs develop 
their activities outside their home country. The EEN built on the good results made under the first 2 
years of COSME support, and further improved the quality, efficiency and relevance of its services for 
European SMEs.  

Several  cluster  actions8  helped  improve  conditions  for  SMEs  by  fostering  collaboration  on  joint 
investment  projects  in  various  priority  areas,  including  the  tourism  sector.  Other  initiatives  helped 
SMEs working in several economic sectors retain key skills and acquire new ones in order to maintain 
and strengthen their competitive edge.  

On encouraging entrepreneurship, the midterm review of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, carried 
out in 2017, concluded that the programme’s overall concept was a success9. 

The COSME programme is on track to reach its objectives by the end of 2020. Some objectives, such 
as those linked to the EEN10 and the cost of doing business11 have been surpassed and continue to 
improve, and the COSME actions continue to be relevant for fostering economic growth and creating 
employment opportunities, while being aligned to the evolving needs of SMEs. 

7 89% of the SMEs financed have fewer than 10 employees and almost 50% are start-ups that have operated for less than 5 
years 
8 The European cluster collaboration platform (ECCP) helps facilitate cluster collaboration at European and global level and 
is a key EU instrument for supporting SME internationalisation. The ‘Cluster Go international’ initiative, which encourages 
clusters and the participating SMEs to access global value chains and find strategic partners, helped establish 23 new EU 
cluster partnerships in 2017, and over 120 clusters in Europe. 
9 Participants (in 2014-2016) have created 241 new companies and over 1000 new jobs so far. Host entrepreneurs also 
benefited from the scheme, 58% of experienced entrepreneurs increased their turnover and 41% increased employment. 
10 e.g. 7 500 partnership agreements were estimated by 2017 whereas 8 245 were signed. 
11 The time taken to set up a business was 3.1 days (2.7 days when digital registration was taken into account) compared with 
the 2017 goal of 4 days. 

11 

 
 
 
 
                                                           
6.  ANNEX 

Commitments 

Payments 

all fund sources 

   all fund sources 

Initial budget 

Budget 
executed 

Executi
on 

% 

Credits 
available for 
payments 

Payment 
executed 

Execu
tion 

% 

Access to finance 

258 757 863 

258 757 861 

100% 

130 079 327 

89 482 218 

69% 

delegated to other 
DGs (IT support) 

total 
Access to markets, 
business 
environment & 
entrepreneurship  

implemented by 
GROW 
delegated to 
EASME 
delegated to other 
DGs 
of which carry over 
to 2018 
total 

Administrative 
budget 

EASME - 
administrative 
(operating) budget 

24 770 

24 760 

100% 

11 114 

11 114  100% 

258 782 633 

258 782 621 

100% 

130 090 441 

89 493 332 

69% 

18 738 946 

13 965 898 

75% 

11 751 695 

8 021 865 

68% 

114 644 805 

114 577 946 

100% 

131 510 370 

130 402 834 

99% 

1 204 809 

1 127 432 

94% 

1 060 416 

685 708 

65% 

40 926 356 

38 000 030 

134 588 560 

126 744 949 

93% 

94% 

144 322 481 

139 110 407 

96% 

3 164 426 

2 451 878 

77% 

3 164 426 

587 387 

19% 

9 235 235 

8 820 886 

96% 

9 235 235 

8 820 886 

96% 

Total budget 

405 770 854 

396 800 334 

98% 

286 812 583 

238 012 011 

83% 

Budget 
Line 

02 02 
02 

02 02 
01 

02 01 
04 01 

02 01 
06 01 

12