(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Many come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes. Data verifications are still ongoing in some Member States, in line with the procedure to assess the Annual Implementation Reports and the reporting cycle. Thus, the figures are not yet fully consolidated.
Budget for 2021-2027
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Rationale and design of the programme
The single market is at the heart of the European project. Since its inception, it has proved a major contributor to growth, competitiveness and employment. It is one of Europe’s major achievements and its best asset in an increasingly global world. It is also an engine for building a stronger, more balanced and fairer EU economy. Thanks to the single market, people, goods, services and money can move around the EU almost as freely as within a single country. EU citizens can study, live, shop, work and retire in any EU Member State, and enjoy products from all over Europe. A properly functioning single market is not a given, however. It has yet to materialise in a number of areas, and in others the benefits could be more substantial.
The single market programme (SMP) improves the functioning of the internal market and helps protect and empower citizens, consumers and businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The programme supports the design, implementation and enforcement of EU legislation underpinning the proper functioning of the single market for goods and services. It assists the digitalisation of services and business operations and facilitates market access and international cooperation, especially in the areas of company law, contract and extra-contractual law, anti-money laundering, free movement of capital, financial services and competition, consumer protection and product safety. It also contributes to a high level of health and safety for humans, animals and plants, and supports the improvement of animal welfare, the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the development of sustainable food production and consumption. Overarching and contributing to all areas, the programme supports the development, production and dissemination of European statistics on all EU policies.
Although the achievements of the single market are well recognised, they are not irreversible. In view of the increasing pressure from global competitors, and in the absence of appropriate financing, there is a risk that the effectiveness of the single market could be undermined with fragmentation and increasing protectionist tendencies within the EU. This could in turn impact the way citizens perceive the benefits of European integration.
A properly functioning single market is even more crucial nowadays to help the green and digital transitions of Europe’s industrial ecosystems and to help the EU economy recover from the pandemic and from the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
It is therefore essential to continue to develop EU legislation and standards and to ensure that these are duly enforced, to the benefit of the EU economy and citizens. Moreover, in a context of budgetary constraints, the EU needs to seek synergies and prevent duplication and fragmentation in its support of the single market. It also needs to ensure the greater visibility and coherence of the action it takes, as single market users may in particular find the proliferation of tools and support programmes confusing. Therefore, through the SMP, the European Commission will continue to address the challenges faced by the single market and help it reach its full potential.
The single market has been at the heart of the EU for nearly three decades. It has enabled people, goods, services and money to move around the EU almost as freely as within a single country. EU citizens can study, live, shop, work and retire in any Member State, and enjoy products from all over Europe while their consumers rights are protected and a greater choice of high-quality products and services is available at lower prices. The single market has provided better legal certainty, and made it easier for enterprises (including SMEs) to access new markets across the EU. It has also ensured better access to financial services, investment opportunities and funding. However, the single market is yet to materialise in a number of areas and can improve in others. A well-functioning single market is crucial for the resilience of our economy, including our SMEs. The SMP therefore aims to:
- ensure a properly functioning single market for goods and services, with fit-for-purpose legislation, including in the areas of financial services, anti-money laundering, free movement of capital, protection of consumers, product safety, and animal and plant health;
- provide high-quality statistics on all EU policies;
- coordinate capacity building for joint action between the Commission and Member States.
- Support the competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs.
The programme has the following specific objectives:
- making the internal market work better through improved product market surveillance, in order to continue providing protection to consumers and to EU businesses playing by the rules;
- improving the competitiveness and sustainability of businesses, especially SMEs;
- increasing standardisation, including by supporting the development of high-quality financial and non-financial reporting and auditing standards;
- ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market through the financing of European standardisation and the participation of all relevant stakeholders in setting up European standards;
- ensuring a high level of consumer protection and product safety and promoting the interests of consumers, including in financial services;
- contributing to a high level of health for humans, animals and plants throughout the food chain;
- improving the welfare of animals, the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the development of sustainable food production and consumption;
- developing, producing and disseminating high-quality statistics on Europe.
The programme supports activities such as:
- data gathering and analysis in support of the effective enforcement and modernisation of the EU’s legal framework;
- studies, surveys, analyses, statistics and evaluations;
- capacity-building activities and the facilitation of joint action between Member States, their competent authorities, key European-level networks, the Commission and the decentralised EU agencies;
- developing information and communications technology tools and supporting Member States in exchanging information;
- financing mechanisms allowing individuals, consumers and business representatives to contribute to decision-making processes;
- advisory and information services, mentoring, training, education, mobility projects, cross-border cooperation;
- strengthening mutual learning through the exchange of good practices and the dissemination of expertise and knowledge;
- awareness-raising activities and discussion forums.
The programme will particularly support, through targeted action, improved competitiveness and sustainability (notably of SMEs); financial stability and the free movement of capital; EU standards for goods and services; the development and monitoring of financial and non-financial reporting; the development, production and dissemination of EU statistics; and several measures concerning the food chain, the protection of human, animal and plant health and the improvement of animal welfare.
The SMP is mainly implemented under direct management, in particular, but not exclusively, using grants and procurement. The participating directorates-general are DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, DG Competition, DG Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, DG Taxation and Customs Union, DG Health and Food Safety, DG Justice and Consumers and Eurostat. The programme is coordinated in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed by the seven participating directorates-general, with the support of a coordination team based in DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
The ambition of the SMP is to provide a broad range of targeted tools facilitating the functioning of the single market, from support to EU policymaking and ensuring that the interests of the consumers are well protected. This is enacted through the following objectives/strands.
Internal market objective. Making the internal market more effective, especially in the light of the digital transformation, by supporting the development, implementation and enforcement of EU law covering the internal market in goods and services, including the free movement of capital and financial services, and effective market surveillance throughout the EU. This should ensure that citizens and businesses enjoy the benefits of the internal market and, through a range of tools, ensure they are aware of and can exercise their rights. Through this pillar, the SMP will implement, enforce and develop rules in areas including company and contract law, anti-money laundering, the free movement of capital and financial services. This pillar will support effective market surveillance to ensure that only safe and compliant products are made available on the EU market. The SMP will ensure financial services meet the needs of consumers, civil society and end users and will enhance the tools and expertise of the Commission so it can effectively enforce competition rules in the digital economy.
SME objective. The measures under this objective have the ambition of helping the EU’s businesses and industrial ecosystems become more competitive and sustainable. It supports measures with EU-level added value for this purpose. This includes measures to boost resilience and to support recovery, the digital transition, industry modernisation, market access in the single market and beyond, entrepreneurship and the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills, growth, the scaling-up and creation of SMEs, access to finance, an enhanced business environment and the reduction of administrative burdens.
Effective standards objective. The programme provides financial support to organisations that develop Europe-wide standards to ensure that products and services meet an agreed level of quality and safety. The EU financially supports the European standardisation organisations: the european committee for electrotechnical standardization covers standardisation in the electrotechnical field, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute covers information technology standardisation and the European Committee for Standardization covers all other sectors. In European standardisation, financial support also goes to organisations representing SMEs, social and societal interests (currently ANEC, the Environmental Coalition on Standards, the European Trade Union Confederation and Small Business Standards). In particular, it provides financial support for the development of international financial reporting and auditing standards. These international standards underpin the EU’s own legal framework on financial reporting (accounting and auditing) and are essential for the functioning of the EU’s capital markets. The SMP also contributes to the development of European and, thereby, global standards on sustainability reporting, which are fundamental for the achievement of the Commission’s priorities set out in the European Green Deal.
Consumer objective. Through the initiatives financed under this objective, the programme supports the enforcement of consumer rights and product safety rules ensuring a high level of consumer protection. It empowers consumers and puts them at the heart of the internal market by supporting and complementing states’ policies in seeking to ensure that consumers can fully reap the benefits of the internal market and that their safety, legal and economic interests are properly protected. It also supports a coordinated approach to market surveillance rules across the EU. The SMP boosts trust on the part of consumers and traders by giving them access to more efficient and cost-effective means of out-of-court redress. The activities under the consumer strand implement the priorities of the ’’New Consumer Agenda for 2020-2025’, addressing consumers’ needs and rights, in particular those of the most vulnerable, and promoting a greener, more digital and fairer single market. The SMP also enhances the participation of consumers, other end users of financial services and civil society in financial-services policymaking and promotes better understanding of the financial sector by providing continuous support to designated organisations. By doing so the Single Market programme (SMP) contributes to the Commission’s political priority on ‘An economy that works for people’ and helps the Commission shape an economy that can fully respond to the needs of the EU’s citizens.
Food objective. Through the food strand, the programme will prevent, control and eradicate animal diseases and plant pests; support sustainable food production and consumption and the improvement of animal welfare; and improve the effectiveness, efficiency and reliability of official controls. The SMP will cover veterinary and phytosanitary programmes, emergency measures and activities relating to official controls. Since 2021, under the new multiannual financial framework regulation and the SMP, the EU has been able to financially support measures and initiatives relating to animal welfare, the prevention of food waste and fraudulent practices, the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the promotion of sustainable food production and consumption.
European statistics objective. Under this objective, the programme will provide funding to national statistical institutes and other national authorities for the development, production and dissemination of high-quality statistics. This allows the provision of information on and the monitoring of the economic, social, environmental and territorial situation, thereby providing for evidence-based decision-making in the EU, supporting policy design and measuring the impact of EU initiatives. This will be done in a timely, impartial and cost-efficient manner, through a strengthened European Statistical System and enhanced partnerships within that system and with all relevant external parties. Multiple data sources, advanced data analytics methods, smart systems and digital technologies will be used, and a national breakdown, and where possible a regional one, will be provided.
The SMP is structured into six programme pillars supporting activities in several policy areas.
The budget structure is set out in line with the specific objectives of the SMP regulation (Regulation (EU) 2021/690).
The SMP brings together six predecessor programmes from various policy areas, notably the grants and contracts part of the former programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COSME); programmes on consumer protection; consumers and end users in financial services; specific activities in the field of developing financial reporting and auditing standards; measures to contribute to a high level of health for humans, animals and plants throughout the food chain and in related areas; and European statistics. It also integrates a number of former prerogative budget lines. Drawing from the lessons of the impact assessment, this integrated set-up is expected to constitute a more flexible and agile financing framework, which will allow the exploitation of synergies, the prevention of duplication and fragmentation, and prioritisation to be improved across all 14 industrial ecosystems.
An important change in the support provided to SMEs with the introduction of the SMP is the establishment of multiannual initiatives to provide medium-term continuity to flagship initiatives that had already demonstrated their impact upon SMEs, such as the Enterprise Europe Network, actions for clusters and Erasmus for young entrepreneurs. In addition, the financial instruments for SMEs that were previously included in the COSME programme are now part of the InvestEU framework.
Programme website:
Impact assessment:
- the impact assessment of the SMP was carried out in June 2018 (SWD(2018) 320 final, 7 June 2018.
Relevant regulation:
- Regulation (EU) 2021/690 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April2021 establishing a programme for the internal market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics (single market programme) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 99/2013, (EU) No 1287/2013, (EU) No 254/2014 and (EU) No 652/2014 (OJ L 153, 3.5.2021, p. 1).
Evaluation:
Final evaluation of the COSME programme (1) and ex post evaluation of the entrepreneurship and innovation programme: Approval of the Commission’s final evaluation report is planned for May 2024.
The final ex post evaluation of Regulation (EU) No 652/2014 is ongoing.
The final evaluation of the 2014-2020 consumer programme is ongoing and completion is planned for end of 2024.
The interim evaluation of the single market programme will analyse the performance of the SMP from 2021-2023 in conformity with the Article 18 of the regulation (EU) 2021/690. A support study that will build on the evaluation & monitoring framework created for the SMP during the spring 2023 will be carried out by an independent external contractor following a call for tender published in the summer 2023. Work started in October 2023 and the interim evaluation has been chosen for Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) scrutiny. Approval of the final interim evaluation report and completion of the mid-term evaluation is planned for end of 2024.
The final evaluation of the single market programme shall take place in any event no later than four years after the end of the programme, 31 December 2027.
Commission delegated regulation (EU)2023/2445 adopted on 28/7/2023 (C(2023)4993) supplements Regulation (EU)2021/690 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework for the SMP. Accompanying staff working document SWD(2023)271 provides more detailed and technical supporting information on the full set of second level indicators and data reporting requirements and includes the Intervention logic of the SMP.
(1) The interim evaluation of the COSME programme was published in 2019: Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament for the interim evaluation of the programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (COM(2019) 468).
Budget
Budget programming (million EUR):
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Financial programming:
+ EUR 146.6 million (+ 3%)
compared to the legal basis*
(*) Top-ups pursuant to Article 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.
The 2023 EU budget for the SME pillar was increased by EUR 10 million following a decision of the budgetary authority.
Negotiations with several non-EU countries (2) have been completed or are in the final stages and their contributions are included in the budget once the agreements are ratified. Most countries do not participate in all strands of the SMP; this is discussed during the negotiation process.
(2) Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye (enlargement countries); Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine (Eastern Partnership countries).
Budget performance – implementation
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2023 (million EUR):
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Voted budget implementation (million EUR)(*):
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The legal basis of the SMP was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU in April 2021. The work programme for the full SMP and the 2021 financing decision were adopted in May 2021. The 2022 and 2023 work programmes were adopted respectively in February 2022 and February 2023.
The EU budget allocated to market surveillance under the SMP is around EUR 15 million annually. The main expenses relate to supporting EU joint actions in the area of product inspection, supporting capacity building (e.g. enhancing testing facilities, developing IT tools for the benefit of market surveillance authorities), commissioning expertise in different areas and operational expenses relating to the functioning of the EU product compliance network.
As regards joint actions in the area of product inspection, which take up about one third of the market surveillance budget, 12 inspection campaigns were financed in 2021 and eight in 2022. The remaining budget under the 2022 SMP will be executed in 2023 due to a switch from grants to procurement and the setting-up of a joint framework contract between DG Justice and Consumers and DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, which caused a delay.
At the end of 2023, EUR 430 million had been committed to the SMEs objective.
In the first three years of the programme key calls were launched for the multiannual initiatives (enterprise europe network, the joint cluster initiative and the erasmus for young entrepreneurs mobility programme), and calls for projects and calls for tenders covering tourism, social economy, SME internationalisation and SME policy development.
The enterprise europe network (EEN) progressed well. By the end of 2023 a total of 85 EEN grant agreements had been signed for a total maximum grant amount of EUR 180,656,576.40. These cover the provision of EEN services to SMEs across the EU, European Economic Area Member States, and six associated countries. In 2023 five newly associated countries joined the network(3).
An international consortium of EEN members is also involved in the ongoing “EEN energy efficiency Action(4)” under which direct financial support is being distributed to SMEs for investments into energy efficiency projects.
For tourism, a total of EUR 32 million of support is being provided to 16 projects (10 projects under a call published in 2021 to support resilience and recovery after the Covid-19 crisis and 6 projects under the 2022 call to support sustainable growth in this sector). Both sets of projects will also provide direct financial support to approximately 1 405 SMEs to cover capacity building costs such as training, certification, networking and matchmaking, and it is estimated that both generations of projects combined will provide financial or non-financial support to approximately 4360 SMEs.
The 30 ongoing joint clusters initiative projects from the 2021 multiannual call are benefiting from EUR 39 million in EU funding from 2021-2023 budget and will receive a further EUR 3 million for 2024. At this halfway stage, all 30 projects have published at least one of the calls for providing direct support to SMEs and 12 out of 30 projects have completed these call procedures and awarded funding to SMEs.
There are 11 ongoing projects under the 2021 Erasmus for young entrepreneurs call for intermediary organisations to recruit the new and experienced entrepreneurs and support their participation in Erasmus for young entrepreneurs (EYE) exchanges. The amount committed to these projects for 2021-2023 is EUR 28 004 751 and an additional amount of EUR 10 050 000 will be committed in 2024 and 2025.
In 2023, calls for proposals were published for tourism projects (see above), social economy missions, boosting the digital transition of social economy businesses, agri-food clusters, the EEN energy efficiency action mentioned above and actions to support Ukrainian enterprises for integrating the single market and participating in Erasmus for young entrepreneurs.
The 2024 SME pillar work programme includes the budget for continuing EEN, the joint cluster initiatives, and EYE, and a new clusters action for Ukraine. Support to ecosystems and sectors in 2024 will focus on social-economy, textiles, agrifood and retail, life-style industries and tourism(5). Funding will also be provided to the solar academy and a new raw materials academy to tackle skills gaps by providing training to businesses in these sectors.
(3) Ukraine joined EEN in 2022 and Turkey, North Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia joined the network in 2023.
(4) This is funded under work programme 2022 with an EU grant of EUR 10 million
(5) In particular, organisational and entrepreneurial capacity-building in the social economy sector, digital up-/re-skilling for textiles, agrifood and retail renewable energy communities, a new WORTH accelerator project for lifestyle industries and promotion of trans-European tourism products in third countries.
Contribution to horizontal priorities
Green budgeting
Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):
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Overall, activities financed by the SMP contribute mainly indirectly to the mainstreaming priorities with the programme’s objective to support resilience of the single market for recovery and ensure restoration after COVID-19 and fulfil the green and digital transition of Europe’s industrial ecosystems. The ongoing midterm evaluation of the SMP also aims to assess the programme’s progress towards the achievements of its objectives and to assess how it contributes to the Commission’s horizontal priorities. The transition towards a greener and more digital internal market is sought through the funding of activities, new technologies and creation of opportunities and business-cases allowing the fostering of sustainable competitiveness while ensuring the protection of consumers and citizens in the EU. The objectives of the SMP are inherently linked to the success of the twin transitions for their achievement. Reciprocally, progress towards these objectives, thus creating a thriving environment for businesses and citizens (consumers), provide the necessary means and incentives needed for the transitions.
Within the SME pillar, the Enterprise Europe Network uses the full range of its innovation and business advisory services to support SMEs with the transition towards more sustainable business models and more climate-friendly products and processes. For example, EEN’s innovation management advisory services, which help companies manage change processes, can support the transition towards more sustainable business models, whereas its innovation and technology transfer services support the introduction of cleaner, less waste-producing and more energy-efficient production lines in SMEs. A dedicated group of sustainability experts within the network acts as a focal point and community of practice within EEN. The Enterprise Europe Network energy-efficiency action is now fully operational (see the point on SDG 7). Supporting the green transition is also one of the key objectives of the Euroclusters projects. Approximately 40% of the budget of this action supports climate goals. This is achieved mainly by providing direct financial support to SMEs (via cascading calls) to assist their adoption of new technologies leading to higher sustainability. Examples of Euroclusters projects with a specific focus on climate goals are the INGENIOUS project for energy intensive industries, and the B-Resilient project to build up the biomass resilience of food-producing and processing SMEs through green and digitised value chains. All projects under the local green deals strand of the social economy and local green deals action (work programme 2021) led to the conclusion of local green deals that serve as a basis for work to implement more climate-friendly practices within their local communities.
The sustainable procurement hubs action (work programme 2024) with EU funding of EUR 4 500 000 will support living labs with strong links between innovators and public administration in areas like mobility, the green and digital transitions, health and education. These will allow public authorities and SMEs to interact to define challenges and possible innovative solutions, with a view to creating new opportunities for SMEs to participate in innovation procurement contracts for boosting sustainability.
There are many other projects and actions that contribute to climate goals, while also focusing on other objectives (for example the 2021 projects on sustainable growth in tourism). It is therefore difficult to estimate the total expenditure on climate across the SME pillar.
A number of SME pillar initiatives contribute to biodiversity goals. Protection of plant variety rights is one objective of the SME Fund intellectual property voucher scheme that reimburses certain types of expenses incurred by SMEs for protecting their intellectual property rights. In 2023, the fund awarded a total of EUR 1 575 to 167 SMEs (funded by a contribution of EUR 100 000 from the SME Pillar budget, and additional funds from the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
EUIPO (6) to support them with the start of the registration process of certain new plant varieties in the EU and encourage them to invest in innovations in plant breeding. The average amount awarded per SME was EUR 225. A number of changes were also made to encourage a higher number of SME applications in 2024 for plant variety rights protection (7). The European agrifood sustainability cluster partnerships action (two projects with a total maximum EU grant of EUR 1.6 million under the 2023 work programme) will support the establishment and development of cluster partnerships to mobilise and support SMEs from this sector to engage in resource efficiency and sustainability improvements, including improvements relating to biodiversity.
Grants to the European financial reporting advisory group support the development of European sustainability reporting standards as provided for by the corporate sustainability reporting directive, adopted on 14 December 2022. The directive is a key instrument to support the EU sustainable finance agenda and important to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal. The European financial reporting advisory group submitted the first set of 12 final draft European sustainability reporting standards on 22 November 2022 covering 10 topical sustainability matters including climate change, pollution, own work force and affected communities. The Commission adopted the standards on 31 July 2023 and they apply as of 1 January 2024. The European financial reporting advisory group has continued developing further draft standards and implementation guidance during 2023.
The action grants to the European standardisation organisations reflect the priorities of the annual EU work programme for European standardisation, of which the green transition is one of the main dimensions. The first three action grants under the SMP concern ambient air, plastic fishing gear and organic fertilisers.
Within the consumer pillar, one of the key priorities in the New Consumer Agenda for 2020-2025 is to support the green transition by promoting more sustainable production and consumption of goods and services. In this context, several procurement initiatives were concluded in 2021-2023 to support measures that empower and assist consumers to make sustainable and informed choices, by raising consumers’ awareness of the environmental performance of products, such as their durability, reparability and eco-design features. The initiatives also aimed at protecting consumers from harmful practices, such as greenwashing, early obsolescence of goods and better information at the point of sale. To promote sustainable production, the consumer pillar launched the sustainable consumption pledge, which calls upon businesses in various sectors of the economy to undertake specific, public and verifiable commitments to reduce their overall environmental footprint, to produce and market more sustainable products and to change their business practices towards a more circular model.
(6) The total EU budget for the SME Fund in 2023 was EUR 2 100 000, of which EUR 100 000 was specifically allocated to plant variety rights. In accordance with the SME Pillar work programme, the additional funding for this scheme comes from the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s legacy surplus outside its operational budget.
(7) An increase in the maximum reimbursable amount to EUR 1 500 and the extension of types of eligible fees which now also include examination fees.
Gender
Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):
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Gender disaggregated information: |
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Eurostat, in addition to domain-specific databases, is disseminating gender equality statistics via the dedicated section on equality: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/equality-non-discrimination/overview . |
Measures supported under this programme respect gender equality principles and take the gender dimension into account.
Under the SME pillar, 59% of the operational coordinators of Enterprise Europe Network consortia are female and 41% are male. The network also has a dedicated group that supports women entrepreneurs and provides partnership and advisory services specifically tailored to their needs. In 2023 (8), 58% of the total financial support provided for Erasmus for young entrepreneurs exchanges went to female new entrepreneurs (297 female new entrepreneurs benefited from the programme and received a total of EUR 951 733 to support the costs of their stay). The SME pillar has also created opportunities for businesses in sectors such as the social economy, which are known to attract a high percentage of women entrepreneurs. A total of 19 projects to support local green deals and boost resilience in the social economy sector started in May 2022 (with a total budget of EUR 4 million). Ten of the 19 coordinators are women, and 63 women (50%) are registered as contact persons out of the 125 partners in these projects. The evaluation procedures for the 2023 social economy call (9) are in their final stages. The action for helping Ukrainian companies to integrate into the single market (work programme 2023, total EU funding EUR 4 500 000) gives specific priority to women entrepreneurs and social economy companies (10). This project is in its early stages and will run until October 2025. The 2023 work programme also includes a dedicated action with a budget of EUR 400 000 to collect data on women’s entrepreneurship and organise a media campaign on promoting female role models for girls and women (11).
Eurostat pays special attention to the gender perspective in its programme by systematically collecting, providing and disseminating sex-disaggregated data in a wide range of domains, including health, employment, income and living conditions, education and training, participation in society, discrimination and gender-based violence. A stocktaking of the availability of equality data in different statistical domains at Eurostat was carried out, and detailed discussions with users were carried out to discover their data needs. To support the improvement of equality and non-discrimination statistics in the EU, Eurostat has set up an ‘equality and non-discrimination statistics task force’ as a sub-group to the European directors of social statistics expert group to which it will report. This sub-group is expected to complete its tasks by the end of 2026.
The agreed initiatives aim at improving data availability and quality by:
- developing guidelines and recommendations for improved comparability of the statistical terminology and taxonomies in the EU context;
- supporting the coordination between the Commission, Member States and other stakeholders;
- making proposals for better coverage of equality and non-discrimination statistics at the EU level based on the six grounds of discrimination (sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation).
In 2023, Eurostat disseminated gender pay gap data for 2021, along with many detailed sex-disaggregated socioeconomic indicators and discrimination statistics. The EU gender-based violence survey data collection in 18 Member States coordinated by Eurostat is finalised and the indicators providing information on the prevalence and dynamics of violence were disseminated by the end of November 2023.
Under the consumer pillar, a panel discussion, entitled ‘Safe for all? Gender and product safety’ was organised during International Product Safety Week in 2022. Although product safety has long been considered a gender-neutral field, in recent years increasing attention has been paid to how gender differences affect health and safety. For example, product-safety panellists pointed out that products are not always modelled on women during their design process. Consequently, this may result in the creation of unsafe products for them. There are also gender differences in consumption patterns, and thus in the type of risks women face. In addition, women drive most household purchases, which means that they can play a key role in consumer safety. The session concluded with good practices on how to involve the gender dimension in policymaking, product design and education campaigns.
(8) This data covers exchanges which started and finished in 2023, but not exchanges which started in 2023 and will finish in 2024.
(9) This focuses on digital transition of social economy SMEs and entrepreneurs (total EU budget EUR 8 000 000).
(10) This project aims to provide 1 500 Ukrainian SMEs with direct support of up to EUR 2 500 to enter the single market, participate in trade fairs and develop their business and/or online services. The first call for third-party financing is currently in progress.
(11) Call for tenders published on 22 December 2023 – deadline 28 February 2024.
Digital
Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):
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The general objective of the SMP as a funding programme is to enhance the single market, so that it can reach its full potential, and does not have the specific scope of digital contribution. However, the programme does include financing of activities that contribute to the goals of the digital and green transition in some parts.
The 2023 SME pillar work programme includes an initiative with a budget of EUR 8 000 000 that is entirely dedicated to boosting the digital transition of social economy enterprises. Many of the Euroclusters projects provide support to businesses for the digital transition (together with sustainability and resilience building). There is no clear breakdown of the percentage of the Euroclusters budget allocated to digitalisation. One relevant project example is the AIBC Euroclusters project, which focuses on artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. The ongoing work seeks to boost the capacities/skills of clusters to allow them to provide stronger support to European SMEs that develop artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions and to support the uptake of related applications by different industrial ecosystems. There are also a number of Euroclusters projects with multiple goals that have published calls for third-party finance specifically dedicated to the digital transition (12).
The Enterprise Europe Network’s service package includes advice to help SMEs prepare for and implement the digital transition by adapting their processes, using digital technologies and developing new products and services using new digital means. These services are provided in collaboration with other relevant European networks such as the European digital innovation hubs. As the Enterprise Europe Network grant agreement does not break down personnel costs by topic, it is not possible to specify the percentage of the network’s budget that supports this goal.
The 2022 tourism call covers both digital and sustainability transitions for tourism , offering training, networking and capacity-building support. Support for digitalisation and sustainability is also provided to the construction and renovation sector to facilitate SMEs’ participation in lighthouse renovation projects for affordable housing and a project for digitalisation of the built environment, public procurement and construction SMEs is ongoing until June 2024 (budget EUR 750 000 under the 2021 work programme). One of the new second-level indicators for the SME pillar approved in mid-2023 measures the number of SMEs supported which undertook business process innovation tied to technological adoption leading to higher digitalisation. Reporting data on the new indicators will be available in future reporting periods.
The action grants to the European standardisation organisations reflect the priorities of the annual EU work programme for European standardisation, in which the digital transition is one of the main dimensions. Several action grants concern e-invoicing, the internet of things and interoperability activities.
Under the consumer pillar, one of the top priorities in the New Consumer Agenda for 2020-2025 is to ensure that consumers derive full benefit from the digital transformation which is radically changing consumers’ lives, offering new opportunities while addressing digitalisation challenges for vulnerable consumers. In this context, in 2021-2023 the SMP supported several initiatives aimed at ensuring digital fairness and protecting consumer’s rights when buying online (including in digital finance), addressing the new challenges to the safety of products brought by new technologies and online sales, along with tackling unfair online practices and manipulations such as dark pattern models and hidden influencer marketing. In 2023, the programme financed a supporting study that provides the evidence basis for the fitness check of EU consumer law on digital fairness. The latter evaluates whether EU consumer law is still adequate in the digital environment or whether any targeted changes are necessary. It examines issues such as dark patterns, addictive design, emotional manipulation, commercial personalisation (advertising, pricing etc.), marketing activities by social media influencers, digital subscription cancellations and renewals, unfair contract terms and use of artificial intelligence chatbots in customer service.
(12) For example, the 2021 Euroclusters ‘Supporting The Recovery And Business Transformation Of Lighting & Furniture SMEs’ project recently published a second call for business digital transformation projects (total call budget EUR 135 000).
Budget performance – outcomes
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Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
With implementation in the third year of this new programme, a midterm evaluation has been launched to assess the performance of the SMP as a whole during the first 3 years of implementation. A tailored monitoring and evaluation framework was developed in 2023, whose purpose is to ensure the effective assessment of the SMP’s progress towards the achievements of its objectives. Additional second-level indicators (design and content level) for the pillars and the programme as a whole have been adopted via a delegated act (Commission Delegated Regulation 2023/2445 of 28 July 2023) and supplement the core performance indicators already established in the legal basis (annex IV to the SMP regulation). While certain interventions throughout the programme to some extent contribute to several horizontal priorities at the same time, there is a need to further align and explore more and deeper synergies. The results of the first midterm evaluation will serve as a substantial source of information to feed into this reflection, enhancing synergies in the context of the horizontal priorities.
Making the internal market more effective by supporting the development, implementation and enforcement of EU law in the areas of the internal market for financial services
- In 2023, the single market programme continued to support the Commission’s policy work fostering stable and globally competitive financial markets in the interest of businesses and consumers and promoting growth and job creation. To that end, the Commission continued its work to also advance competitiveness with its actions to promote a European capital markets union. That resulted in the Commission adopting legislative initiatives that alleviate the administrative burden on businesses including SMEs.
- To enhance retail investors’ trust and confidence to safely invest in their future and take full advantage of the EU’s capital markets union, in May 2023 the Commission adopted its retail investment strategy. The strategy aims to foster participation in EU capital markets, which are an essential means to channel private funding into the economy and to fund the green and digital transitions. To ensure the EU’s financial sector can adapt to the ongoing digital transformation, in June 2023 the Commission put forward a proposal to amend and modernise the current payment services directive (PSD2), which will become PSD3, and also establish a payment services regulation (PSR). These will ensure that consumers can continue to safely and securely make electronic payments and transactions in the EU, domestically or cross-border, in euro and other currencies. To ensure that consumers and small businesses can continue to access and pay with euro banknotes and coins across the euro area, and to set out a framework for a possible new digital form of the euro, in June 2023 the Commission adopted its ‘single currency package’. The package includes a legislative proposal establishing the legal framework for a possible digital euro and a legislative proposal on the legal tender of euro cash, which ensures that cash remains easily accessible for people and businesses across the euro area.
- In April 2023, the Commission adopted a proposal further strengthening the existing EU bank crisis management and deposit insurance framework. This will enable authorities to organise an orderly market exit for failing banks of any size and business model, including smaller banks. Through this proposal, the EU will protect taxpayers and depositors, and increase the efficiency of the crisis management framework for the economy.
- To address the need to improve levels of financial literacy in the EU, in September 2023 the Commission published a joint EU–Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development financial competence framework for children and young people, which was then supported by a capital markets union social media campaign.
- To support the green transition, in June 2023 the Commission put forward a new package of measures to strengthen the foundations of the EU sustainable finance framework. The package aims to ensure that the framework continues to support companies and the financial sector, while encouraging the private funding of transition projects and technologies. In this respect, the Commission added additional activities to the EU taxonomy and proposed new rules for environmental, social and governance rating providers, which will increase transparency on the market for sustainable investments.
Product market surveillance
- The EU product compliance network, composed of Member State representatives in the area of market surveillance and officials of the Commission, continued working on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance, which entered into force in July 2021. The implementation of the regulation includes initiatives financed by the EU budget.
- Under the SMP, the Commission provides yearly financial support for joint actions between the market surveillance authorities of different Member States, to undertake joint product inspection campaigns. The purpose of the cooperation is to harmonise the ways of working at the EU level, especially in terms of risk assessment of the products tested. When a campaign is finalised, the market surveillance authority coordinating the action presents the results to the EU product compliance network, and follow-up action is undertaken to remedy any issues identified. This is a way to share best practices, and is much appreciated by the members of the network. Two campaigns were finalised in 2022 (portable heaters and recreational crafts). Thirty product campaigns are currently ongoing.
- The Commission supports the market surveillance authorities with the development of three information technology pilot projects meant to facilitate and automate the work of market surveillance inspectors. A special focus is put on e-commerce surveillance. The development of the tools is ongoing. The purpose of this initiative is to provide the Member States with effective tools, especially for less digitally advanced market surveillance authorities.
- The Commission continues to offer Member States a platform for the exchange of information between market surveillance authorities, namely the information and communication system for market surveillance. The platform is continuously maintained and developed to meet the needs of market surveillance authorities.
- Various cooperation agreements have been set up under the SMP in the form of administrative arrangements. The purpose of these activities is to collect relevant information in order to implement evidence-based policy. DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs cooperates with the Joint Research Centre for the collection of national market surveillance indicators and peer reviews between market surveillance authorities. The first results were delivered in 2022. DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs also has a cooperation agreement in place with DG Taxation and Customs Union for the development of a system for exchanging data between customs authorities and market surveillance authorities, under which the first data was delivered in 2022.
Consumer protection pillar – Ensuring high levels of consumer protection and product safety
- One of the top priorities of the consumer policy, outlined in the New Consumer Agenda for 2020-2025, is to empower consumers to take an active role in the twin green and digital transitions. The Consumer pillar supports the convergence of digital and green thinking: reducing the environmental impact of digital technology and using digital tools to foster sustainable production and consumption. European consumers rightly expect to benefit fully from the single market and to live in a fair market – online and offline – where the sustainable choice is the easy and affordable choice, and digitalisation works to the benefit of all. To help consumers in this transition, the Commission has adopted a new law granting consumers the right to repair common household appliances and established new rules to ensure consumers are better informed and better protected, for example against early obsolescence, greenwashing or misleading environmental claims. The digital transformation offers to consumers opportunity to make comparisons between products, to check their environmental impacts and reliability of information. To ensure that consumers derive full benefit from the digital transformation which is radically changing consumers’ lives by offering opportunities while addressing new challenges, the SMP supported initiatives aimed at tackling dark patterns, ensuring digital fairness and protecting consumer’s rights when buying online. The Commission also adopted new EU-wide rules on product safety that cover new digital technologies and online sales. Consumers are now also better protected regarding financial services contracts concluded at a distance.
- Under the consumer protection pillar, the programme continued to finance Safety Gate, the EU’s rapid alert system for the dissemination of information on dangerous non-food products, so the national authorities in the single market can take effective action. In 2023, Safety Gate enabled the circulation of 3 412 alerts, or 55% more than the annual average observed over the last 5 years. This increase can be explained by the constant improvement of the system and wider use of the e-surveillance web crawler, launched by the Commission in 2022 to enhance authorities’ capacity to trace dangerous products. This powerful tool traces whether dangerous products banned from sale are removed from all online listings. It is now used by more than 500 surveillance authorities in 29 EU/EEA countries and detects on average 2 000 online offers of reported dangerous products every week.
- The consumer pillar also facilitated cooperation among EU/EEA market surveillance authorities to reinforce the safety of products placed in the single market by financing the joint testing of products, the analysis of the outcomes, assessing the risks, taking the measures on dangerous products, along with sharing of knowledge and best practices.
- In 2021-2023, the programme provided EUR 24 million to the European Consumer Centres network, which helps consumers with cross-border purchases and educates them about their rights when shopping on the single market. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the European Consumer Centres have been at the forefront of helping consumers confronted with cancellations of flights and package travel, problems related to online shopping and the increase in the number of scams. In 2023, the network received 125 000 requests for assistance. In 22 500 cases it acted as an intermediary with the trader in obtaining redress, which resulted in the recovery of over EUR 9 million.
- The consumer budget continues to support the operational capacities of the national consumer protection cooperation authorities responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. The action grants were awarded to consumer protection cooperation authorities to assist them in, for example, exchanging good practices, creating online investigation tools, training staff, developing artificial intelligence tools to detect online infringements and creating a new database of consumer complaints to allow similar market issues to be detected in several Member States. The grants also support EU authorities’ networking activities with non-EU enforcement bodies as part of the international consumer protection and enforcement network. In 2023, on Member States’ request, the support scheme was changed from grants to public procurements that facilitated organisation of workshop on dual quality and peer-to peer meetings.
- The programme provides financial contributions to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entities aimed at providing redress to consumers without them having to go to court. The action grants support activities including training for practitioners, customised assistance for vulnerable consumers, the creation of an online case-handling tool and exchanging of best practices. Sectoral seminars and workshops organised in 2021-2023 brought together more than 300 practitioners to attempt to strengthen the effectiveness of ADR bodies and to address challenges relating to the energy crisis and the shift towards digitalisation. As digital markets require quick and simple redress mechanisms, the SMP facilitated to gather evidence-based information from alternative dispute resolution practitioners and other stakeholders to feed the Commission’s proposal to revise the Alternative Dispute Resolution directive. In 2021-2023 the consumer pillar funded several initiatives to help over-indebted consumers to remedy their economic wealth by facilitating exchange of best practices and capacity building to debt advisors, and by offering action grants to support creation of stable debt-advice services and the networks of experts.
- In 2023, the programme financed a supporting study that provides the evidence basis for the fitness check of EU consumer law on digital fairness, and which evaluates whether EU consumer law is still adequate in the digital environment.
- The programme has supported several capacity-building, awareness-raising and education activities, for example: (1) Consumer-Law Rady project providing training courses dedicated to SMEs; (2) Consumer Pro training programme addressed to consumer organisations and other actors in consumer protection; (3) Enforcement Academy aiming to improve the digital investigation and enforcement capacities of national consumer protection authorities and consumer safety networks; (4) Influencer Legal Hub, an online library providing guidelines for social media influencers; and (5) ‘Better Internet for Kids’, ensuring that children are protected, respected and empowered online.
- The programme also provides an operating grant of EUR 2.4 million per year to The European Consumer Organisation (Bureau européen des unions de consommateurs (BEUC)) to support various activities aimed at defending the interests of European consumers and providing support to the consumer organisations.
Enhancing the participation of consumers in financial services
- In 2023, the programme provided action grants to two organisations (Better Finance and Finance Watch) for their actions contributing to the SMP’s specific objectives on enhancing the participation of consumers, other end users of financial services and representatives of civil society in financial services policymaking; promoting a better understanding of the financial sector and of the different categories of commercialised financial products; and ensuring that the interests of consumers in the area of retail financial services are protected. Since the launch of the SMP, the two beneficiaries have been working successfully towards the achievement of the programme’s objectives, including by producing a number of position papers, research reports and replies to public consultations informing EU policymaking in the field of financial services.
SME pillar
- The SME pillar of the SMP continues to implement the SME strategy and the SME components of the updated industrial strategy, along with supporting the work of the SME relief package. It has a strong focus on supporting SMEs’ growth and recovery and the green and digital transitions, while helping the former to achieve success in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving environment.
- The 2023 SME pillar work programme included the budget contribution for multiannual initiatives launched in 2021 (the Enterprise Europe Network, the joint cluster initiative, Erasmus for young entrepreneurs and the intellectual property voucher for post-COVID-19 recovery and the green and digital transitions). There were also calls for proposals for the tourism and social economy sectors.
- The first results of the calls launched in 2021 and 2022 are now available. The later launch of the Erasmus for young entrepreneurs call, due to the ongoing previous project, means that the full 2023 picture is not yet available. However the data so far (2 086 matches from a target of 3 000) is encouraging. The other two key indicators are on track. The Enterprise Europe Network and Joint Cluster Initiative calls were launched in 2021 and the numbers of SMEs, clusters and business network organisations, and business support organisations supported is 266 448, with a midterm target of 320 000 expected by 2025. Business partnerships are measured at 1 724, with the target of 2 700 to be achieved by 2024.
- Enterprise Europe Network advisory services are now available in Ukraine (an Enterprise Europe Network Ukraine grant agreement was signed in October 2022), and Ukrainian businesses are also active participants in Erasmus for young entrepreneurs exchanges. EUR 10 million was allocated in 2023 to launch the Enterprise Europe Network energy advisors call following the inflation rise combined with the energy prices. This call responds to the needs of SMEs that are seeking to improve their energy performance.
- An additional call of EUR 4.5 million was launched to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian SMEs into the single market (both businesses based in Ukraine and displaced Ukrainian-registered companies currently operating from the EU. The action complements successful initiatives undertaken by the existing and consolidated networks – including their Ukrainian members – of the Enterprise Europe Network, the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance and the Erasmus for young entrepreneurs intermediary organisations.
- The preliminary findings of the ongoing evaluation of the programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (2014-2020) are encouraging for the work which continues for many of the SME pillar actions, but in particular for the work of the Enterprise Europe Network, covering over 40% of the operational budget.
Standardisation pillar
- The 2022 indicator shows that most European standards are available in all Member States, and this supports the smooth implementation of EU legislation and policies in the single market. Financing focuses on projects that support the strategic priorities for European standardisation and ensures the effective participation of all relevant stakeholders in the standardisation processes. The high implementation rate is additional proof of the quality and wide acceptance of European standards in the single market.
- In 2023, the programme provided grants to three organisations (the European financial reporting advisory group, the international financial reporting standards foundation and the public interest oversight board) for their work on the development of international financial reporting and auditing standards.
- In addition to continuing its financial reporting advisory activities, the European financial reporting advisory group received a new mandate from the corporate sustainability reporting directive, adopted on 14 December 2022, to develop European sustainability reporting standards. The directive is a key instrument to support the EU sustainable finance agenda and important to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal. The European financial reporting advisory group submitted the first set of 12 final draft European sustainability reporting standards on 22 November 2022 covering 10 topical sustainability matters including climate change, pollution, own work force and affected communities. The Commission adopted the standards on 31 July 2023, they entered into force at the end of 2023; first application is for the financial year 2024. The European financial reporting advisory group, with the Commission’s mandate, has continued developing further drafts for additional standards and guidance pertaining to directive matters, for example specific draft standards for small and medium-sized companies, implementation guidance on two key concepts under the directive (value chain of companies, materiality assessment) and drafts on a digital classification system required by the directive.
- In July 2022, the international accounting standards board published its feedback statement on the third agenda consultation, outlining its priorities and work activities for the 2022-2026 period. The three main strategic priorities are to maintain the strategic direction and balance of the international accounting standards board’s activities while increasing slightly efforts to develop digital financial reporting and improving the understandability and accessibility of international financial reporting standards; to progress current projects; and to add intangibles, statement of cash flows and climate-related risk in financial statements to the work plan. These priorities also have a direct impact on the work plans of the European financial reporting advisory group and the public interest oversight board.
Food pillar
- Among the important achievements in the area of food and feed (a high level of health for humans, animals and plants), despite the sizeable decrease of the budget available, it is worth noting the dramatic reduction of both food-borne salmonellosis in humans (due to programmes implemented in poultry flocks for many years) and classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease, with no cases for several years). Lumpy skin disease, an emerging cattle disease, has also been controlled effectively (vaccination campaigns), with no outbreaks in south-eastern Europe since 2017. In the area of plant health, the co-funding, although significantly decreased, has helped Member States effectively survey their territories and take early actions in case of findings. Several outbreaks of longhorn beetles have been declared eradicated in 2021-2023.
- The better training for safer food programme has contributed to increase knowledge of Member State staff involved in official controls. In 2023, 195 training sessions were organised with a total of 5 866 participants, and 2 863 staff participated in e-learning courses.
- In order to achieve objectives laid down in SMP, different activities were financed, such as support to EU reference laboratories and EU reference centres, actions to fight antimicrobial resistance, actions to reduce food waste, food information campaigns and information technology initiatives.
- In 2019, the Commission’s Internal Audit Service requested that DG Health and Food Safety further improve and simplify the financial management of the veterinary and phytosanitary programmes. In the light of this process, the DG signed an administrative arrangement with the Joint Research Centre to develop new methodologies for the calculation of unit costs in both areas. In the final report, the Joint Research Centre suggested the use of lump sum as a matter of simplification, as the payment is based on the technical results achieved and no invoices or financial checks are needed anymore before the payment. After the adoption of the decision of 23 March 2022, authorising the use of lump sum contributions for annual and multiannual veterinary and phytosanitary programmes under the single market programme, lump sums have been used for 2021-2022 grant agreements.
Statistics pillar
- Eurostat continued to provide high-quality European statistics to support the Commission’s six headline ambitions. Moreover, it provided European statistics specifically supporting EU policymaking in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the related energy crisis, along with the management and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The key performance indicator, measuring Eurostat’s impact on the internet, shows that the programme has performed well. The number of times that Eurostat is mentioned on the internet has increased and has overcome the target, also due to a change in the behaviour of Talkwalker, the information technology tool used to measure it. According to Talkwalker, the application programming interface used to retrieve X (formerly Twitter) mentions provides more numerous results than in the past. This is due to the fact that X had changed their policy and give access to more data. The percentage of negative opinions continues to be extremely low, showing trust in and satisfaction with the data produced.
MFF 2014-2020 – multiannual financial framework – Programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises
COSME supports measures to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs, which also achieve additionality at the EU level. This encompasses measures to foster growth; scale up and create SMEs; improve access to markets (including through internationalisation); improve access to finance for SMEs in the form of equity and debt; promote entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial skills, the business environment and digital transformation; create new business opportunities for SMEs (including those with innovative business models); improve the competitiveness of industrial ecosystems and sectors; develop industrial value chains; modernise industry; and contribute to a green, digital and resilient economy.
Budget
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2023 (million EUR):
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As of 31 December 2021, the programme had committed the whole of its available envelope.
In terms of payments, the loan guarantee facility has an implementation ratio of 95% (payments vis-à-vis commitments), while the equity facility for growth has an implementation ratio of 63% due to the specificities in the implementation of this instrument (see below).
In the case of the loan guarantee facility, payment appropriations are needed to allow the implementation partner (the European Investment Fund) to honour guarantee calls from financial intermediaries for defaulting loans and to pay implementation fees. The Loan Guarantee Facility has also been reinforced by the SME window of the European Fund for Strategic Investments since 2015. This has added additional risk-taking capacity and has doubled the available resources in terms of commitment appropriations.
In the case of the equity facility for growth, payment appropriations are needed to allow the implementation partner (the European Investment Fund) to honour cash calls from fund managers, who will use the cash to invest in portfolio companies and for implementation fees. Since it is standard in the industry that venture capital fund managers have up to 5 years to make the first initial investments in SMEs following the creation of the venture fund, there is a significant delay between the time of signature of a fund agreement by the European investment fund and the respective cash calls by the fund managers. Furthermore, following the initial investment by the fund manager, funds can hold on to their portfolio companies for up to 10 years, during which time they can undertake follow-on investments to grow the companies. This pattern of activity explains why there is a time delay between commitment and payment appropriations in the case of venture capital investments.
Both financial instruments are expected to last until 31 December 2034.
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Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
In 2019, SMEs accounted for over 60% of the increase in EU-27 added value, and 70% of the increase in EU-27 employment. In both cases, SMEs’ contribution was driven by micro-SMEs, which accounted for 31% and 56% of the total growth in value added and employment respectively (13).
However, in 2020 the COVID-19 crisis brought to an abrupt halt or even reversed the gains made by the EU SME sector over the past decade. Many industries, especially in the SME-intensive services sector, experienced large declines in sales as a result of the various lockdowns and other measures introduced by Member States, while some other industries saw their sales increase. The various business support measures implemented by Member States during the pandemic limited the employment impact of the decline in economic activity.
Since 2020, a recovery has taken place but new challenges have arisen, such as historically high inflation and high energy prices. The 2023 SME performance review shows that across the EU, the number of SMEs has recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and increased by 2.7% in 2022. Employment in SMEs rose by 2.4% in 2022. SME employment took until 2022 to reach 2019 levels. In the high inflation environment of 2022, SME added value, when adjusted for inflation, declined by 2.5%.
Up to September 2023, the loan guarantee facility had enabled more than 900 000 SMEs to receive more than EUR 56 billion in financial support over the 2014-2023 period. In reaction to the COVID-19 crisis, EUR 714 million from the European fund for strategic investments was redirected (since 2020) to the programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises loan guarantee facility to allow the European investment fund to incentivise banks to provide liquidity to SMEs affected by the crisis. More flexibility was given to users of the facility, and the guarantee rate was increased from 50% to 80%. Up to September 2023 this helped more than 110 000 European SMEs to access more than EUR 10 billion in liquidity finance under the COVID-19 measure of the programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises within the loan guarantee facility.
By September 2023, the funds supported by the equity facility for growth had invested more than EUR 8 billion in more than 1 000 companies. Of this amount, more than EUR 5 billion was invested in more than 700 SMEs in their growth and expansion stage.
(13) SME performance review.
MFF 2014-2020 – Food and Feed
The food and feed programme aims to prevent, control and eradicate animal diseases and plant pests, support sustainable food production and consumption and improve animal welfare and the effectiveness, efficiency and reliability of official controls.
Budget
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2021 (million EUR):
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Payment appropriations are still needed under the previous food programme for the completion of initiatives that were agreed upon in the last years of the previous multiannual financial framework regulation. The majority of these payments will be done until end of 2025 and the need for decommitments will be assessed as projects are completed.
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Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
Among the important achievements in the area of food and feed (a high level of health for humans, animals and plants), it is worth noting the dramatic reduction of both food-borne salmonellosis in humans and classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease, which has almost disappeared). Lumpy skin disease, an emerging cattle disease, has also been controlled effectively (vaccination campaigns), with no outbreaks in south-eastern Europe since 2017. In the area of plant health, the co-funding, although significantly decreased, has helped Member States effectively survey their territories and take early actions in case of findings.
In 2014-2020, the European Court of Auditors published several reports assessing the implementation of the food and feed programme. In chemical hazards in our food – special report 02/2019, the Court emphasised that the EU’s food safety model in respect of chemicals is considered a point of reference, and that it is soundly based and respected. On 26 April 2016, the Court published dealing with serious cross-border threats to health in the EU – Special report 28/2016 on a performance audit on animal disease eradication programmes, and drew positive conclusions on DG Health and Food Safety’s management of the programmes. All of the Court’s recommendations referred to initiatives that were already ongoing, and all of them have already been finalised.
The food and feed programme has contributed to the improvement of animal welfare through its financial support for courses (better training for safer food programme) in this area in several countries. This has led to improvements in this sector, as stated by the Court of Auditors, which emphasised in Animal Welfare in the EU – Special report 31/2018 that EU action on animal welfare has improved compliance with the EU’s requirements and has supported higher standards, with a clear positive impact on animal welfare.
In 2019, the Internal Audit Service requested that DG Health and Food Safety further improve and simplify the financial management of the veterinary and phytosanitary programmes. In light of this process, DG Health and Food Safety signed an administrative arrangement with the Joint Research Centre to develop new methodologies for the calculation of unit costs in both areas. The work suffered slight delays because of the COVID-19 situation, but the final report on the review of the methodology for unit costs in the veterinary area was submitted by the Joint Research Centre to DG Health and Food Safety in March 2021. At the same time, the report for phase 1 concerning a new methodology for the calculation of unit costs for sampling activities in the phytosanitary area (where no such approach existed) was also submitted by the Joint Research Centre. The Joint Research Centre final report suggested the use of lump sum as a matter of simplification, as the payment is based on the technical results achieved and no invoices or financial checks are needed anymore before the payment.
Sustainable development goals
Contribution to the sustainable development goals
SDGs the programme contributes to | Example |
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SDG7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all | The European solar academy (budget EUR 2.5 million in SME pillar work programme 2023 and EUR 5 million in work programme 2024) will provide training for SMEs across the solar photovoltaics value chain. It will contribute to the availability of affordable and clean energy by supporting training of SME staff which in turn will ensure better availability of competitive domestically produced solar photovoltaics components. Reporting data will be made available on the number of SMEs trained. The “EEN energy efficiency action” run by an international consortium of EEN members is providing direct financial support to SMEs for investments into energy efficiency projects. This is funded under SME Pillar work programme 2023 with an EU grant of EUR 10 million. |
SDG8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all | Relevant measures under the SME pillar include the Erasmus for young entrepreneurs exchange scheme, which supports enriching and sustainable business exchanges that allow new and experienced entrepreneurs to learn from each other’s experience (1). The Enterprise Europe Network’s sustainability advisor services also contribute to this goal (see SDG 9). The SME pillar also supported initiatives to help tourism businesses to developing their skills and capacities in sustainable tourism (total budget of EUR 30 850 000 for 2021-2022, and an additional EUR 7 500 000 in 2023. Under the SME pillar action for local green deals and resilience boosting in the social economy sector (2021 work programme) 19 projects with a total budget of EUR 4 million are currently ongoing until April 2024.
(1) As part of the ongoing work on a draft delegated act to clarify further details of the SMP monitoring and evaluation framework, the possibility of adding a new second level indicator on ‘the number of businesses created following an Erasmus for young entrepreneurs exchange or number of entrepreneurs with formal plans for setting up a business as a result of an Erasmus for young entrepreneurs exchange’ is under consideration. |
SDG9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation | Various initiatives support industry and innovation, notably EEN’s advisory, innovation and sustainability advisor services and its sector groups, the Euroclusters and the intelligent cities challenge. In addition the 2021 action for monitoring the performance of EU industry and industrial ecosystems contributes to the work of the industry forum that is playing a key role in the transition pathways to drive the green and digital transition in business. The reports on specific ecosystems and country reports also contribute to policy making to support innovation in industry. |
SDG11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable | The intelligent cities challenge under the SME pillar (mentioned also under SDG9) contributes to achieving this goal by supporting cities to achieve sustainable growth by means of advanced technologies. It also prepares the local workforces for the green and digital twin transition and the jobs of the future. |
SDG12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns | Several euroclusters projects focus on responsible production and consumption. For example; the Resist project is supporting SMEs from the automotive-transport-mobility and manufacturing ecosystems with personalised and targeted services to become more sustainable and resilient and succeed their digital transition, including access to co-funding for innovation projects, coaching and mentoring services, networking, training and internationalisation services. The project is ongoing until February 2025 and will support more than 100 SMEs. |
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts | Within the SME pillar, the Enterprise Europe Network helps SMEs to make use of innovation to become more resource efficient. The network also has sector and thematic groups for sustainable construction, intelligent energy, the environment and the circular economy. Over 200 expert Enterprise Europe Network business advisers specialise in climate-related issues. The Enterprise Europe Network’s annual client survey (20) will include a question on whether/how the Network’s services have helped SMEs put in place a more sustainable business model (reduction in emissions, better energy efficiency, better waste management, etc.) but no quantitative information will be available on the reductions in emissions or waste. The enterprise europe network is also implementing an energy-efficiency action with a total budget of EUR 10 000 000 (see SDG 7). The intelligent cities challenge (EUR 7 435 915 – 2022 SME pillar work programme) helps cities to coordinate measures for delivering comprehensive business models, governance structures and networks to boost the transition to circular business models and a sustainable economy. It will provide guidance and support to cities for putting in place local green deals, which address the green transformation in local industry and business. There is also an SME pillar action to support local industrial partnerships involving SMEs and social enterprises, to pilot lighthouse renovation districts for the affordable housing initiative. At least 33 SMEs active in the construction and social housing sectors will receive support to help them to upskill, reskill and integrate the latest digital, environmental and socially innovative solutions needed to participate in this type of renovation work, and to identify technology needs and developments. The budget for the ongoing projects under the 2022 work programme is EUR 1 2 million. A further EUR 1 million will be available under the 2023 work programme. The circinwater euroclusters project focuses on supporting European SMEs to develop and implement water-smart solutions for the agrifood and energy-intensive industries (mining, pulp and paper, steel and chemical industry). |
SDG16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels | Under the European statistics objective, Eurostat is called to regularly monitor progress towards the UN SDGs in an EU context. For this purpose, it coordinated the development of the EU SDG indicator set, which consists of around 100 indicators. The indicator set is reviewed every year to ensure the highest quality and that the most policy relevant indicators are included. About two thirds of these indicators are produced by the European statistical system. Based on the EU SDG indicator set, Eurostat produces an annual monitoring report (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi) assessing the progress of the EU towards the UN SDGs. The report is complemented by various communication products (website, data tables, interactive visualisation tools, country profiles) to target different user groups. Eurostat also analyses spillover effects on countries outside the EU. The 2023 edition included a special chapter on short-term progress towards the SDGs in the face of multiple crises. Furthermore, the SDG indicators are integrated in the European semester. Eurostat provides a graphical overview of status and progress of each Member State towards the SDGs, which is included in the country reports. In 2023, Eurostat also prepared the statistical annex to the EU Voluntary Review on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was presented to the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Eurostat also provides training to the national statistical institutes to produce harmonised and comparable social statistics, environmental statistics, national accounts, etc. Moreover, it offers courses to explain indicator frameworks and the monitoring of the UN agenda 2030 for sustainable development. |