New COSME call Co-financing of consortia for public procurement of innovation

The European Commission announces a new call under the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME). The call Co-financing of consortia for public procurement of innovation - COS-PPI-2018-2-01 has a budget of € 4,000,000. The planned opening date is July 11, 2018. Deadline for submission is December 11, 2018. The Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME) expects to finance three to four projects of between € 800,000 and € 1.5 million.

The specific objective of this call in relation to SMEs is to improve their access to markets inside the Union. Access to public procurement remains difficult for SMEs, who are only awarded 45% of the value of public contracts above EU public procurement threshold. This share is clearly below their weight in the economy.

The public sector can play a large role in helping companies, and in particular SMEs, overcome a classic market failure: finding a first group of customers for their innovative products and services. Innovation is constrained by a 'chicken or egg problem,' whereby suppliers will often wait until there is a demonstrated demand before they develop new solutions, while at the same time the potential buyers are waiting to see a new product or service enjoying some success in the market before they will risk buying it themselves (Cate et al, 1998).

Th call is expected to contribute to a significant increase in the proportion of SMEs that have access to the public procurement market. It will also increase the visibility and awareness of the advantages of procuring innovation for a constantly increasing greater number of public buyers.

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