Regional councils are responsible for the regional development strategies and overall regional development in Finland. A Regional Programme, based on the region’s long-term strategic policies, specifies objectives for regional development, and is closely connected to the Smart Specialisation Strategy for each region. The regional strategic programmes are prepared for four years and they cover the term of the municipal councils. Renewal of the current programme will begin in fall 2024 and is estimated to be completed at the end of 2025.

The South Ostrobothnia Regional Programme 2022-2025 implements the long-term Regional Plan of South Ostrobothnia extending to 2050, with the objective to activate the implementation of the objectives and activities stated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in its Decision for regional development 2020-2023 and the themes of the Regional Programme. Decisions on ERDF and ESF+ project funding in the region must be in line with the themes, objectives and activities of Regional Programme.

The current Programme for South Ostrobothnia 2022-2025 refers to one of the Smart Specialisation Strategy practices (Start up and Grow) and recognizes in its sub-objective 4.3.1 business transfers as a source of business growth and renewal. The Programme calls for advancement of business transfer services, business restructuring and new business models.

Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport has started National Business Transfer Policy Programme in 2015. The objective is to promote growth and continuity of Slovenian family businesses. The Programme is, starting 2019, implemented through the National Business Transfer Hub (BT Hub).

The current National Business Transfer Policy Programme is based on EC recommendations and includes non-financial measures such as awareness-raising activities with workshops / lectures, and information delivery, which is provided by SPIRIT (national implementing agency of the Ministry) and financial measures such vouchers for beneficiaries, implemented through the national BT points. Both types of measures are addressed in REBTES.

The policy instrument is in the development stage where the ongoing BT study of the University of Ljubljana shows that ownership of 4000 SMEs with nearly 150.000 jobs will be transferred within next 10 years. Due to the fact that the majority are not family-owned businesses and thus the importance of family succession as a form of BT is going to diminish in the coming years, the necessity to establish a national BT marketplace has become the next step to be developed within the national BT instrument.

The Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion (OPCC) 2021-2027 is a strategic document that outlines the Croatia's priorities, objectives, and measures aimed at fostering economic growth, enhancing competitiveness, and reducing regional disparities through the efficient use of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). HAMAG BICRO acts as an intermediate body of the Ministry Regional Development and EU Funds in implementation of this policy instrument.

Objectives: 1) Promoting economic growth and job creation; 2) Enhancing regional cohesion; 3) Strengthening institutional capacity of public administration and governance structures for effective implementation of EU policies.

Priorities: 1) Research, innovation, and technology development; 2) Supporting SME competitiveness and entrepreneurship; 3) Improving digital transformation and ICT infrastructure; 4) Investing in sustainable development and environmental protection; 5) Enhancing the quality of education & skills training, and social inclusion.

Measures addressed are: 1) Financial instruments; 2) Capacity building and technical assistance; 3) Encouraging public-private partnerships; 4) Establishing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track progress, assess the effectiveness of interventions, and ensure accountability and transparency in the use of EU funds.

The project REBTES is concerned with Strategic axes 1 (support for entrepreneurs) & 3 (partners who deliver BT services). Implementation of entrepreneurship and innovation policy is explained in VLAIO business plan. The policy to promote business transfers (BT) comprises five pillars.

1. Monitoring
Why: to know how entrepreneurs prepare (or not) the transfer and how BT are part of the strategy of start-ups and growers.

2. Raising awareness
Why: most entrepreneurs face only once a BT, a good preparation takes often more than five years, BT is for 80% emotion in the case of family firms.

3. Provide information
Why: entrepreneurs need a one stop shop to find information on the legal, financial, fiscal and emotional aspects of BT.

4. Organize BT services
Why: they need experts in different areas, SME’s find it hard to find trustful service providers, sellers and buyers of micro-companies do not find each other easily.

5. Adapt the legal and fiscal framework
Why: the existing frameworks may not discourage to start preparing a BT.

The VLAIO business plan 2024 mentions:
- monitoring through a study VLAIO commissions every 4 years,
- raising awareness and providing of information, through a media campaign, campaign website, an information package and events during the Business Transfer Week,
- accessible guidance by service providers, through the tender for Entrepreneurship Support Services,
- financial support for tailor-made advice, through the grant instrument SME-Wallet.

The province of Utrecht wants to make support for SMEs more flexible, more targeted and more visible, preferably from a single regional counter. Therefore “entrepreneur central” has been created on a municipality level. Entrepreneurs can find support on various topics such as: liquidity issues, social support, marketing & sales, administration, job finding next to entrepreneurship. At the province level, there is an additional entrepreneurship policy regarding the succession of SMEs, including family businesses of the province of Utrecht, but the Municipal level does not have business transfer support included in Central Entrepreneur Support. The main activity on Province level is to give vouchers (until end 2024) to entrepreneurs that need help, for dedicated business transfer coaches. These coaches are working on the awareness of the succession or business transfer issues. In addition, they support business transfer action plans, info memorandum or potential successors exploration. It is up to the entrepreneurs to take action, with a nudge from the coaches that are paid by the vouchers. The Municipality aims to integrate the support for business transfers with the Province Entrepreneur Central policy instrument.

The purpose of the Programme is to implement an effective local policy in the field of investment and project activities by creating a favourable and stable investment climate to ensure investment inflows into the economy of the city territorial community, accelerated economic growth and attraction of international technical assistance and public funds.

The programme's objectives, which are relevant to the project idea, are:
- organisational, infrastructural and informational support of investment activities, in particular, maximum assistance to investors in obtaining permits and approvals, improving local infrastructure;
- improving the investment climate, disclosing the advantages of the city's territorial community attractive to potential investors and presenting it as a reliable and effective partner;
- preparation of new investment products, dissemination of information about them among potential investors, promotion of investment projects and proposals;
- ensuring active cooperation with current and potential participants in the investment process.

As a result of the Programme activities, the expected results are:
- Improvement of the investment image and attractiveness of Ivano-Frankivsk.
- Increase in the volume of investments.
- Increase in the number of jobs by expanding the production of existing enterprises and creating new ones.
- Increase in production and sales volumes at the enterprises of the city.