How
Can Europe Help You?
Micro, small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs) are socially and economically important, since
they represent 99% of all enterprises in the EU and
provide for around 65 million jobs.
Below you can find information on funding and the location
of detailed information on how the EU can help your
business
FUNDING
Who can avail of Grants?
Those candidates who can be awarded grants are private
or public organisations, and in exceptional
cases individuals. In each case they
are chosen by the European Commission for their ability
to implement the projects involved.
Before applying for a grant there are a number of basic
principles that must be understood.
Firstly, they are a form of complementary financing.
The EU does not finance projects up to 100%.
Secondly, they enable a given operation to break even
financially and cannot lead to a profit for their beneficiaries;
Finally, they cannot be awarded retroactively for
actions that are already completed.
How do you apply for Grants?
Before the 31 March each year, those Departments of
the Commission that manage grant programmes publish
their annual work programme on their
Internet site. By consulting these work programmes you
may identify the fields which interest your business.
Once you have identified the fields of interest you
may proceed to the grant application process following
the Commission's call for proposals on the relevant
internet site or in the C- Series of the Official Journal
of the European Union.
In the interests of transparency the Commission will
publish each year a list of grants that were awarded
during the previous year.
Further information on the process can be found at
http://ec.europa.eu/grants/index_en.htm
Funding Programmes
The EU Grants Advisor (EUGA) programme is a source
of funding and information and is available online at
www.microsoft.com/emea/euga/.
This programme provides access to over 300 grants
to SMEs in Ireland. It will also facilitate
your business' application.The European Commission,
the European Investment Bank and the European Investment
Fund have launched JEREMIE. This programme
enables the Irish Government to use part of its' Structural
Funds to provide venture capital micro credit
loans to businesses. More information on the
programme can be found at http://www.eif.europa.eu/jeremie
TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT
The Sligo European Information Centre office
has staff training programmes funded by the EU, in Human
Resources Development and Health and Safety. You can
learn more about this service and others on www.eic.ie/sligo.htm
The European Centre for the Development of
Vocational Training can be found at http://www.cedefop.europa.eu.
Their website provides details on vocational education
and training that may be of interest to SMEs.
European Agency for Safety and Health at work
for SMEs http://osha.europa.eu/OSHA
Want to search for staff from across
Europe?
EURES, the European Job Mobility
portal, brings together candidates and employers from
29 European States. It allows the employer to
search and be alerted to candidates that meet their
specific criteria across Europe. The employer
may also make use of a EURES advisor in order to draw
up a tailored solution. The EURES portal may be found
at http://eures.europa.eu
SOURCES OF FURTHER INFORMATION
The European Information Centres at Sligo and Galway
can provide detailed information on Tenders,
EU Legislation, Funding and European Business Opportunities
this information can also be found online at www.eic.ie
The Gate2Growth project is aimed
at supporting innovative entrepreneurs. http://www.gate2growth.com
The SME Envoy is the European Commission's
key interface with the SME Community http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/smes
The Irish Business Bureau (IBB) which
is the Brussels branch of IBEC publishes bi-annual issues
on topics such as economic affairs and taxation, employment
and social affairs, and environment and energy. The
IBB web address is http://www.ibec.ie
The European Commission DG for Enterprise
and Industry can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/enterprise
The CORDIS service provides information
on Research and Development and is found online at http://cordis.europa.eu/ireland/home_en.html
The European Union also provides a programme on Corporate
Social Responsibility http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/csr/index_en.htm
The Irish Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
is responsible for running an EU initiative for problem
solving, SOLVIT, this is an informal
problem solving network for EU and international issues
open to SMEs. It can be found on the Department's website
at http://www.entemp.ie/sitemap/international.htm
The SME Observatory analyses data
relating to SME performances and issues related to SMEs.
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/analysis/observatory_en.htm
The SME Union was set up by the European
Peoples Party. Its main objective is to help
in shaping EU policy in a more SME friendly way. http://www.sme-union.org
If you would like to contact the EU by telephone you
can do so by calling the Europe Direct
free-phone service, from Ireland
Tel- 00 800 6789 1011. |
