EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT TIPS

The European Commission aims to achieve two objectives:

•  a gradual development of co-operation projects with the national Trade Promotion Organisations, as well a strengthening of the European Trade Promotion Organisations network; 
•  a closer collaboration with  EU Member States and their Trade Promotion Organisations in the framework of the Missions for Growth and other internationalisation activities of the European Commission.

This action includes three strands:

1. To enhance cooperation among the trade promotion organisations and with the European Commission (setting up a European agenda);
2. To assist to the organisation of future Missions for Growth and their follow up via the network of national trade promotion organisations; 
3. To develop of a web-based instrument that can be of use to both national trade promotion organisations and the European Commission in order to map the international trade promotion activities inside and outside the EU. 

Aims of the call is to achieve :

• a gradual development of co-operation projects with the national Trade Promotion Organisations, as well a strengthening of the European Trade Promotion Organisations network; 
•  a closer collaboration with  EU Member States and their Trade Promotion Organisations in the framework of the Missions for Growth and other internationalisation activities of the European Commission.

This action includes three strands:

1. To enhance cooperation among the trade promotion organisations and with the European Commission (setting up a European agenda);
2. To assist to the organisation of future Missions for Growth and their follow up via the network of national trade promotion organisations; 
3. To develop of a web-based instrument that can be of use to both national trade promotion organisations and the European Commission in order to map the international trade promotion activities inside and outside the EU.     

The deadline for electronic submission is 19 March 2015 at 17:00 hours (Brussels time).

This action aims at supporting SMEs, start-ups and entrepreneurs wishing to operate light RPAS in Europe by facilitating their access to relevant regulations, requirements and procedures through the development of a web portal offering free access to information, guidance and training tools.

In particular the action will:

• Raise general awareness about the regulatory context of light RPAS operations and facilitate understanding of the regulatory framework (safety, privacy and data protection, etc.). With this respect, attractive online tools shall be developed in order to present national regulations in a clear and accessible way.
• Facilitate access of businesses to light RPAS regulations and related obligations across Europe. Specifically, the action will provide, for those countries where commercial operations of light RPAS are possible, the necessary information to operate RPAS legally.

Deadline: 18 February 2015, 17.00h Brussels time

OPEN CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST TO SELECT FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES UNDER the Loan Guarantee Facility of the Programme for Competitiveness of Enterprise and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (“COSME”)

The objective of this Open Call for Expression of Interest, launched by the European Investment Fund, is to select eligible financial institutions to become Financial Intermediaries under the COSME – Loan Guarantee Facility (“LGF” or “the Facility”).

Through COSME LGF, EIF offers guarantees and counter-guarantees, including securitisation of SME debt finance portfolios, to selected financial intermediaries (e.g. guarantee institutions, banks, leasing companies, etc.) to help them to provide more loans and leases to SMEs.

By sharing the risk, COSME guarantees allow the financial intermediaries to expand the range of SMEs they can finance, facilitating access to debt finance for many SMEs who might be having difficulties in accessing the traditional banking system.

LGF is a successor to the SME Guarantee Facility (SMEG), successfully implemented by EIF under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) in the period 2007-2013.   

Deadline: 30.09.2020

The main objective of the action is to intensify cluster and business network collaboration across borders and sectoral boundaries and to support the establishment of European Strategic Cluster Partnership to lead international cluster cooperation in fields of strategic interest – notably in support of the development of emerging industries.

Applicant consortia are free to propose activities they consider relevant. However, it is essential that all activities are clearly related to the objective set out for each strand and duly justify:

• strand 1: supporting preparatory actions for the establishment and shaping of new European Strategic Cluster Partnerships (ESCPs); for which expected results and deliverables are a partnership agreement, an internationalisation strategy plan and an implementation roadmap;
• strand 2: supporting the first implementation, testing and further development of European Strategic Cluster Partnerships; for which the expected results and deliverables are collaboration activities developed and implemented with international partners and a monitoring scoreboard with verifiable indicators.

This call for expressions of interest addresses leading business and innovation support organisations located in third countries other than those participating in the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME).

The objective is to establish 'Business Cooperation Centres' for the Enterprise Europe Network in international markets in order to form a unique international network of excellence facilitating business cooperation, technology transfer and research collaboration.

Deadline for the submission of applications: 15 March 2015 18:00 (Brussels time).

The overall objective of this Call for proposals is to pursue the EU efforts aimed to strengthen cluster management excellence in the EU as a way to provide more professional business services to European SMEs through clusters and therefore contribute to the development of more world-class clusters in the EU.

The interested cluster organisations and business networks should be engaged into a strategic industry-driven collaboration (or are planning to work together) along a common value chain or on a transnational project in any manufacturing or service sector, and are facing some common challenges, and willing to:

• Improve their management practices as well as their market/competitive advantages or value-chain analytical capacities and;
• Provide top quality services to their SMEs, especially on integrating creativity into their business, facilitating SMEs internationalisation, better exploiting and diffusing Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), assisting SMEs on IPRs protection and further addressing resource-efficiency issues within their cluster.

DEADLINE: 29 October 2014 17:00 (Brussels time)

Erasmus for Young 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.

The aim of this call is to expand and strengthen the existing network of Intermediary Organisations which act as local contact points for newly established entrepreneurs as well as experienced entrepreneurs in the participating countries.

Proposals need to be submitted by public or private entities, in partnerships composed of at least 5 entities from at least 4 different Participating Countries. Participation of a partner in more than one proposal is excluded.

Publication date  2014-05-20

Deadline Date 2014-07-17 +17:00:00 (Brussels local time)

Budget €4,120,000