The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions companies and projects that achieve the policy aims of the European Union through loans, equity and guarantees.
Eureka is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying through Eureka programmes can access funding and support from national and regional ministries or agencies for their international R&D projects.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizations such as the World Bank, the OECD, European Union, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology is a Directorate-General of the European Commission and is responsible for European Union investment in research, innovation and development of popularized digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and 5G.
The European Structural and Investment Funds are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. They aim to reduce regional disparities in income, wealth and opportunities. Europe's poorer regions receive most of the support, but all European regions are eligible for funding under the policy's various funds and programmes. The current framework is set for a period of seven years, from 2021 to 2027.
The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) is an Executive Agency of the European Commission. EASME was founded in 2003 as the Intelligent Energy Executive Agency (IEEA) and was renamed the European Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) in 2007, finally becoming EASME in 2014. It is responsible for managing specific programmes in the fields of energy, the environment, and business support. Its goal is to promote sustainable development while improving the competitiveness of European industries. While the Agency has its own legal identity, it reports to several Directorates-General of the European Commission, which remain responsible for programming and evaluation of the programmes.
The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the European Research Area (ERA). Starting in 2014, the funding programmes were named Horizon.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established in 2008 intended to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT’s three “core pillars” of activities are: entrepreneurial education programmes and courses across Europe that transform students into entrepreneurs; business creation and acceleration services that scale ideas and budding businesses; and innovation-driven research projects that turn ideas into products by connecting partners, investors, and expertise.
The Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship was a vice-president of the European Commission.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is the European Union's main legislative instrument aiming to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the European Union. It was inspired by the Kyoto Protocol which commits the EU and all its parties by setting binding emission reduction targets.
The Enterprise Europe Network is a cross-border business network that provides support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to innovate and grow internationally. It is co-funded by the European Union's COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes.
The Alpine Space Programme is a transnational cooperation programme in the framework of the European Union cohesion policy. In this programme national, regional and local stakeholders from the participating countries in the Alpine space cooperate on various transnational projects.
Immigration Policy 2.0 is a European Union project that aims to facilitate the participation and involvement of immigrant citizens in immigration policies framed in the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program (CIP)
Creative Europe is a funding programme established by the European Union to support the cultural, creative, and audiovisual sectors across Europe. The main objectives of the programme are:
The European Innovation Council (EIC) was introduced by the European Commission to support the commercialization of high-risk, high-impact technologies in the European Union. The fully-fledged EIC was launched March 2021 under Horizon Europe and is incorporated within the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Its goal is to aid researchers, start-ups and SMEs bring their innovations to market by providing funding, networking and partnership opportunities, and business acceleration services. In its latest form, the concept has been put forth by the EU Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas in mid-2015. The EIC has a budget of €10.1 billion to support innovations throughout the lifecycle from early stage research, to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs.
Cascade Funding, also known as Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP), is a European Commission mechanism to distribute public funding in order to assist beneficiaries, such as start-ups, scale-ups, SME and/or mid-caps, in the uptake or development of digital innovation.
The European Research Executive Agency is a funding body mandated by the European Commission to support the EU Research and Innovation policy. It has been established by the European Commission, based on Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003.
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is a component of the European Union's (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) which aims to coordinate and increase national investment in defence research and improve interoperability between national armed forces. It was proposed in 2016 by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and established in 2017. The fund has two stands; Research and Development & Acquisition. In July 2018, the European Commission announced that the EDF budget for 2021-2027 would be €13 billion. This sum was later revised by the European Commission as part of the new EU budget proposed on May 27, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to which the EDF will be allocated €8 billion over this budget period.
The Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space is a department of the European Commission.
