EU Structural Funds support SMEs in England The European Commission has approved aid of some ECU 49 million to the Structural Funds' "SME England" initiative. The initiative is intended to boost the international trading performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the weaker regions of England. It is es... The European Commission has approved aid of some ECU 49 million to the Structural Funds' "SME England" initiative. The initiative is intended to boost the international trading performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the weaker regions of England. It is estimated that turnover from international trade should see an increase of up to ECU 670 million as a result of this actions, creating as many 3,500 additional jobs over the next four years in the regions concerned. Mrs. Monika Wulf-Mathies, Commissioner responsible for regional policy and cohesion, stressed that: "The Single European Market offers tremendous opportunities for new cross border trade, but smaller enterprises in disadvantaged regions often find these and other international markets difficult to access. "SME England" will help such enterprises gain confidence in the international trading arena by helping them to link up better with counterparts in other EU Member States and combine their know-how of specific markets. "SME England" offers a coherent framework of actions starting with the identification of potential new international markets and profiling of those local SMEs who are to compete in them. Thereafter, three precise areas of intervention are defined: - Grants to SMEs to help them design and implement their own business strategies in cooperation with international partners; - International networking, including telematics networking, with a strong focus on cross-border public procurement with the Single European Market; - Integrated training and other human resource development actions, including the transnational secondment of SME staff. The initiative will operate through three separate programmes targeting each of the areas eligible for support under the regional objectives of EU Regional Policy in England. The programme will be implemented through the development of partnerships in each region. Local partnerships will include Business Links, Train and Enterprise Councils (TECs), Regional Supply Offices, enterprise agencies and other SME support providers. Countries United Kingdom
