From left to right: Idaira Robayna Alfonso, Project Advisor at the European Commission - EASME. EEN Network Manager for Spain and Portugal; Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of Unit of the SME Pillar, Internal Market and Support to Standardisation of the Executive Agency for the European Innovation Council and SMEs (EISMEA); Pilar Ruíz-Huélamo, Director of the Delegation to the European Union.
Brussels, 26/01/2024.- The Delegation of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (EU) held its training seminar entitled "Improving the competitiveness of SMEs: a challenge to consolidate the single market”.
SMEs are the engine and core of the European economy, account for 99 % of businesses and account for 67 % of jobs. However, they have been significantly affected by recent events: the COVID pandemic, the energy crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and rising inflation. All this has caused companies to face market volatility, supply cuts, labour shortages, etc. Moreover, this crisis has caused the proportion of European entrepreneurs to have decreased from 45 % to 37 %, in contrast to 51 % in the US. and 56 % in China.
The European Commission, aware of this situation, published in 2020 the SME Strategy for a Sustainable and Digital Europe and, in 2021, the Single Market Programme (SMP) aimed at improving the functioning of the Single Market, protecting consumers and making it easier for the many European SMEs to make the most of the opportunities offered by the EU. The PMU absorbs activities financed under six previous programmes, including the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME).
One of the specific objectives of this programme is to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs, for which there is a specific section: the SME Pillar.
The added value of this seminar is that it gives SMEs, fundamental in the European business fabric, the opportunity to access information on the support mechanisms that the European Union makes available to them. Pilar Ruiz Huélamo, Director of the Delegation of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce to the EU.
The SPM’s SME Pillar has a budget of EUR 1 billion, distributed in direct funding aid and services to support SMEs. It aims to cover three specific objectives:
- Facilitate access to international markets for SMEs.
- Improving conditions for SMEs.
- Promote the sustainable and digital development of SMEs.
For a greater understanding of the Pillar, we have the participation of Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of Unit of the Executive Agency for the European Innovation Council and SMEs (EISMEA), who referred to seven initiatives:
The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) that helps SMEs innovate and grow internationally. It is the world’s largest support network for SMEs with internationalisation prospects. It brings together more than 3,000 experts and has more than 600 member organisations. All companies can access free information and support through this network for marketing, internationalisation, partner search, funding programs and opportunities, among other services.
The EEN has contact points in all countries through consortia, which have experts from organisations recognised for their excellence in business support, such as Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Innovation and Regional Development Agencies, Universities and Research Institutes and Scientific and Technological Parks.
Contact points are set up through consortia for a duration of four years. In Spain there are nine contact points: EEN-MADRID; GALACTEA PLUS; BASQUE EEN; B2EN; SEIMED; CESEAND; CEIEC-2; ACTIS; CATCIM. However, a new call for proposals for the period 2024-2029 is expected to be launched after the summer. Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of Unit of EISMEA.
- EU-China SME Centre, operational since 2010, offers SMEs who want to open up to the Chinese market tailor-made technical assistance for self-diagnosis, training sessions or ask questions to experts in a confidential and free way. Assistance is carried out through e-mails or face-to-face or online meetings with internal or external experts.
- EU-Japan SME Centre, established in 1987, offers various services for Europeans, including a “hot desk”, access to meeting and seminar facilities, advice for doing business in Japan, or support in drafting business plans. It also provides assistance related to the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.
The usefulness of the network and these centres is that they transcend the mere financial aid, since they function as accelerators and with organisations that, in some way, SMEs consider to be close. Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of Unit of EISMEA.
- European Intellectual Property Assistance Service, which provides free support to help European SMEs and beneficiaries of EU-funded research projects manage their intellectual property in the context of transnational corporations or in EU research and innovation programmes.
- Due to the importance of the tourism sector in Europe, which accounts for almost 10 % of the EU’s GDP and where 99 % of the companies operating in the sector are SMEs, the rapporteur pointed out the funding line that, through calls, the SME Pillar makes available to SMEs covering this sector to extend the tourism season and move towards the green and digital transition.
- They constitute cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary and trans-European strategic initiatives of industrial clusters and other economic actors. It works by launching calls for financial support to third parties. EUR 42 million of the PMU has been allocated to this first wave of EUROCLUSTERS, composed of 171 partners, covering 23 different countries and 14 industrial ecosystems. The Euroclusters Collaboration Platform (ECCP) brings together all these initiatives in one place.
The Euroclusters, composed of more than 3,000 business associations representing 54 million jobs, help create new business opportunities for SMEs and improve integration into value chains and strengthen resilience and digitalisation. Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of Unit of EISMEA.
- Finally, he pointed to the Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs Programme (EYE), which allows for closer ties through a six-month direct exchange funding programme between companies that are over three years old and young companies.
This programme has now turned 15 and has achieved 12.000 exchanges. Natalia Martínez Páramo, Head of Unit of EISMEA.
Then a question-and-answer session took place.
The seminar, which was held in hybrid format, was attended by 30 attendees. These include the presence of Idaira Robayna Alfonso, Project Advisor of the SME Executive Agency (EASME) and with the Territorial Chambers of Albacete, Alcoy, Avilés, Badajoz, Béjar, Bilbao, Castellón, Granada, La Rioja, Málaga, Miranda de Ebro, Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Soria, Tarrasa, Valencia, Vilagarcia de Arousa, Vigo; and the Superior Council of Chambers of Andalusia.