New COSME call European Strategic Cluster Partneships for smart specialisation investments

The European Commission has published a new call under the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME). The call European Strategic Cluster Partnerships for smart specialisation investments - COS-2017-3-02 has a budget of € 2.8 million. Deadline of submissions is March 8, 2018. Funding per project will be up to € 350,000.

The call aims to complement the mobilisation of interregional RIS3 partnerships of regional authorities under the Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation by generating corresponding partnerships of specialised SME intermediaries, and vice versa.

In order to facilitate strategic interregional collaborations and strong industry involvement, and to create a project pipeline for smart specialisation investments across Europe, the European Commission started to offer support to regional authorities, clusters and industry stakeholders through an integrated approach to smart specialisation, clusters and industrial modernisation. This approach combines two mutually reinforcing initiatives:

• The Commission has set up Thematic Smart Specialisation Platforms to bring together regional authorities interested in joining forces in the implementation of their RIS3 strategies. This approach was launched in 2015 with the set-up of the Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy and two additional Thematic Platforms on Industrial Modernisation and on Agri-Food in 2016, with possibly others to follow;
• The Commission is starting with this call for proposals to mobilise European Strategic Cluster Partnerships for smart specialisation investments. These partnerships should be composed of cluster organisations, other business network organisations, technology centres and science parks aiming to boost inter-regional collaborations and innovation activities amongst groups of SMEs in specific thematic areas, related industries and value chains. Moreover, the strategic partnering of cluster organisations is not left to happen at random but with a specific linkage to the Thematic Smart Specialisation Platform on Industrial Modernisation.

For more detailed information and documents please click here.

The COSME programme aims to make it easier for SMEs to access finance in all phases of their lifecycle - creation, expansion, or business transfer.