Commission to support small businesses in Italy
The European Commission is to provide assistance of ECU 192 million to encourage the adjustment of small businesses in Italy to the single market and to enable them to be competitive at international level. Of this amount, ECU 184.05 million is from the European Regional Development Fund and ECU 7.62 million from the European Social Fund. The resources allocated to the aid programme, which is aimed in particular at small businesses located in the less-developed regions, are concentrated on a limited number of priorities: - Improving the production infrastructure and organization of small businesses, with regard in particular to quality and quality certification; - Promoting and introducing technological innovations (for example, technologies to ensure safety and workers' health and support for technology transfer projects); - Developing cooperation among businesses and between research centres (for example, developing CAD-CAM production systems and supporting research and innovation projects); - Developing networks among suppliers of services to small businesses and between large companies and their subcontractors; - Facilitating access by small businesses to new markets, including public procurement contracts within the single market and in non-Community countries; - Reinforcing entrepreneurial skills in Objective 1 regions. These schemes are to be accompanied by assistance in the area of financial engineering at regional level.
Countries
Italy