Events to look out for
Launch of the European Social Innovation Competition – 28 February, Ljubljana (SI).This launch event will put together social innovation leaders from across Europe to discover the latest social innovation trends and opportunities and launch the theme of this year’s competition.
Revitalising and modernising the small retail sector – 14 March, Madrid (ES). In this workshop participants will discuss how to help small retailers meet the changing needs of their customers.
Funds available
Capitalia concludes a EUR10 million agreement with European Investment Fund to support small businesses in the Baltic countries. Capitalia and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have signed an agreement on a guarantee instrument supporting small businesses in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, for a total amount of EUR10 million. With this guarantee, small businesses will get better access to finance.
EUR 900 million for businesses in Portugal. The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Banco Comercial Português (Millennium bcp) have signed two agreements in Portugal. The agreements benefit from the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe. EIF is providing a direct guarantee that will enable Millennium bcp to provide up to EUR 500 million of loans to over 1,150 small businesses in Portugal. EIF also signed an extension to a previous agreement, delivering up to EUR 400 million of additional budget to support another 750 innovative SMEs and mid-caps in Portugal.
Get involved
European Commission launches targeted consultation on new guidelines for company reporting on climate-related information. As part of its Sustainable Finance Action Plan, the Commission launched a targeted consultation with the objective to finalise new guidelines for company reporting on climate-related information. This consultation proposes ways to assess how climate change can impact the financial performance of companies, as well as how companies can have positive and negative impacts on the climate.
EU Have Your Say: have you received funding, or participated in projects managed by the EU Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)? Let them know what you think in this survey.