Project summary
If SMEs internationalise they are more likely to survive in global competition, more innovative and more resistant to crises than their stay-at-home cousins.
The Everywhere International SMEs (EIS) project brings together nine partners from seven regions across Europe. The EIS project aims at promoting excellence in regional business support systems for internationalising SMEs by sharing and embedding best practices to enable more SMEs to expand their business across borders.
See our project summary video here:
What did this project achieve?
The Everywhere International SMEs (EIS) project was formed out of a recognised regional and European need to encourage more SMEs to internationalise as a central pillar of the post crisis recovery to cement sustainable growth in the EU. The EU’s Single Market of 500 million consumers and the growing opportunities offered by the global economy provide Europe’s SMEs with huge potential if they push their business goals internationally. An estimated 90% of global growth originates outside the EU. Developing and emerging markets are expected to account for 60% of world GDP by 2030. There is huge potential for EU-based SMEs.
SMEs are much more likely to survive in the globally competitive business climate if they internationalise. International SMEs are also more innovative than their stay-at-home cousins and more resistant to local and national crises.
Approach
EIS brings together nine partners from seven regions to work on a four year project (2017-20). EIS partners will develop the EIS tool, a six step methodology to help the participating regions develop robust Action Plans for their stakeholder groups to interrogate as the project unfolds. All partner regions will implement this common EIS tool in phase two (years 3-4) as part of each Action Plan and apply the EIS tool within their Operational Programmes – an innovative approach for improving Operational Programmes and governance structures for improved policy implementation among the EIS partners. EIS has a very strong focus on European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) with a target impact of in total around €19.5 million of EIS partner regions’ ESIF programmes. EIS counts all seven of its addressed policy instruments as being linked to Smart Specialisation Strategies. The repository of knowledge developed during the EIS project will be put at the disposal of all EU regions via the Interreg Europe programme, the relevant policy platform(s) and through the EIS communication strategy.A few numbers
1,684,134 €
01 Jan 2017-31 Dec 2020
8 partners