International collaboration

The EU Competitiveness Council has adopted the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), a framework programme to promote competitiveness and innovation which runs from 2007 to 2013. The framework programme targets SMEs.
The aims of the framework programme are:

• to promote the competitiveness of SMEs;
• to promote all types of innovation;
• to promote the development of a sustainable, competitive, innovative and inclusive information society;
• to promote new and renewable sources of energy in all sectors, including the transportation sector;
• to improve energy efficiency.

The framework programme is organised in three special programmes:

• The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme;
• The ICT Policy Support Programme;
• The Intelligent Energy Europe Programme.

The funds allocated to the framework programme total EUR 3.6 billion, 60% of which is expected to be allocated to the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme.

Under the EU CIP framework programme, the Commission has established Enterprise Europe Network, aimed at supporting enterprises with business development and innovation by:

• providing information about Community activities;
• providing information associated with innovation;
• transferring technology and knowledge; and
• carrying out activities which encourage SMEs to take part in the seventh framework programme for research and technological development.

The Danish section of the Enterprise Europe Network comprises six organisations providing practical assistance to enterprises looking for a business partner in another country, for instance, or to enterprises in need of assistance in understanding EU legislation and subsidy schemes.

Negotiations for a new framework programme – Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), which will run from 2014 to 2020 – will conclude in 2013 at the latest. The most important objectives of the framework programme are:

• to facilitate access to finance for SMEs;
• to create an environment favourable to SME creation and growth;
• to encourage an entrepreneurial culture in Europe;
• to strengthen the sustainable competitiveness of EU enterprises;
• to support the internationalisation of SMEs and improve their access to markets.

Each year, the European Commission holds a competition among regional and local authorities and educational institutions to promote entrepreneurship at regional level. The objectives of the Awards are:

• to identify and recognise successful activities and initiatives undertaken to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship;
• to showcase and share examples of best entrepreneurship policies and practices;
• to create a greater awareness of the role entrepreneurs play in society.
• encourage and inspire.

The projects nominated will be included on the Award’s website to make these high-quality entrepreneurial initiatives accessible to as many as possible. Each project nominated by a member state will be invited to take part in the Awards ceremony. The Danish Business Authority collaborates with a national panel of judges to nominate up to two candidates a year.

Nordic collaboration is primarily conducted through a business policy collaboration programme. This programme aims to increase integration so that Nordic countries serve as a single market for enterprises and the public. Innovation and entrepreneurship are some of the core areas of Nordic collaboration where transnational development activities are initiated and funded for the purpose of promoting the competitiveness of the Nordic business community.

The Danish Business Authority represents Denmark on the OECD’s Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (WPSMEE). This working party shares entrepreneurial policy experience, develops statistics and launches international analyses of entrepreneurs, SMEs and their framework conditions.