COSME, Strengthening the Competitiveness and Sustainability of SMEs

COSME is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) running from 2014 to 2020. The four specific objectives of COSME are the following:

·         improving access to finance for SMEs in the form of equity and debt

·         improving access to markets, particularly inside the Union but also at global level

·      improving framework conditions for the competitiveness and sustainability of Union enterprises, particularly SMEs, included in the tourism sector

·         promoting entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture

COSME builds upon the Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme (EIP), established for 2007-2013 under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), with the main exception of innovation related activities that will be prolonged under Horizon 2020.

According to the legal base, the overall indicative budget for the seven-year period of COSME (2014-2020) is €2.3 billion. It will start at €275 million in 2014 and will rise progressively to €430 million in 2020.

In the upcoming months the programme will become fully operational with new calls and tenders, which will offer targeted funding opportunities to:

·          Entrepreneurs, in particular SMEs, which will benefit from easier access to funding for their business

 ·           Citizens who want to set up and develop their own business

·   Member States’ authorities, which will be better assisted in their efforts to elaborate and implement effective policy reforms

·    Innovation service providers which will be asked to contribute with better solutions for a more favourable environment for SME growth.

KiNNO’s focus will be mainly on projects related to clusters, competitiveness and innovation, enabling technologies and SMEs.

For more information regarding COSME Programme you can click here.