After World War II, the European countries struggled a lot to recover. During that time, “Schuman Declaration” helped them to form the union which becomes a successful one.
Entrepreneurs of small and medium sized companies are the back bone of European Union. They represent 99% of all business in European Union. In the past 5 years, they have created 85% of new jobs and provided employment for 2/3 of the private sector.
5 Important Measures helped EU to be a Strong Nation
- Friendly Environment – They created a commission named “Small Business Act” which is to provide comprehensive SME (Small and medium-sized enterprises) policy for European Union Countries. In this Small Business Act, they promote “Think Small First” Principle. Basic idea behind this rule is to promote & support the Small & Medium-sized Business owners.
- Promote Entrepreneurship – European Commission promote Entrepreneurs through the “Entrepreneurship Action Plan”. It is completely based on the three pillars as
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- Education to Entrepreneurship
- Business Environment
- Promoting Entrepreneurship
So through this they support the budding Entrepreneurs with the education, which is the basic need. After the education, they even help them with the adequate business environment. The promotion of “think small first” principle in the fields of taxation, consumer protection, labour law and environmental protection is the key. Also they raise awareness about the importance of entrepreneurship in the society among the people.
- European Single Market – It is also called Internal Market or Common Market. It guarantees the free movement of goods, Capitals, Service and Labour within the European Union. They may be termed as “four freedoms”. There are about 500 Million customers accessing the European Single Market, because of which the infrastructure and opportunity has improved a lot. CEN-CENELEC SME Helpdesk helps people to know about the European Standards and the business tools required to access the European Standardization System. They provide
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- Free Information
- Fresh First Line Advice & Rapid response by Email.
- Monthly news through the SME Newsletter
- Direct Link to the National SME Standardization Expert.
- Other Support measures including training and mentoring.
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- Financial Scheme
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- Cosme Program – It aims to make finance easier for small and medium-sized companies. Through this program the companies can receive up to €1,50,000 from the European Central Bank.
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- InnovFin Program – It helps the Innovative small and medium-sized enterprises & Research and Development business with the finance.
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- Creative Europe – It is a supportive program for the business under cultural and creative sectors.
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- Program for Employment & Social Innovation – Through this program they increase the availability and accessibility of micro finance for the micro-enterprises and vulnerable groups. Also, increase the access to finance for social enterprises.
- Other Support
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- Your Europe Business Portal
It is exclusively designed to help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to take advantage of the European Single Market, beyond business boundaries. It provides entrepreneurs with the practical information on their rights, obligations and opportunities while doing business in the European Union.
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- Enterprise Europe Network
Enterprise Europe Network supports the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to connect with the right international partners to grow the business. Also, they provide expert advice for the growth and expansion into the international markets. They even provide the solution based service that helps enterprises to convert the innovative ideas into the international commercial successes.
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- SME Internationalization Support Stage
They provide Foreign Market Information using which their business activity will be developed internationally.
