The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's development bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions projects that achieve the policy aims of the European Union through loans, guarantees and technical assistance.
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 international organizations such as the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The economy of the European Union is the joint economy of the member states of the European Union (EU). It is the third largest economy in the world in nominal terms, after the United States and China, and the third one in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, after China and the United States. The European Union's GDP estimated to be around $16.6 trillion (nominal) in 2022 representing around one sixth of the global economy. Germany has by far the biggest national GDP of all EU countries, followed by France and Italy.
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.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is a set of major research fellowships created by the European Union/European Commission to support research in the European Research Area (ERA). The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are among Europe's most competitive and prestigious research and innovation fellowships.
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 Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) of the European Commission is meant to improve the competitiveness of European companies facing the challenges of globalization. The programme is mainly aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which will receive support for innovation activities, better access to finance and business support services. It will run from 2007 to 2013.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a European mobility scheme initiated by the European Union in 2009, which gives new or aspiring entrepreneurs an opportunity to get a first-hand, practical coaching from experienced entrepreneurs running small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in one of the 27 EU Members States or in other countries part of the COSME programme.
European Union–Pakistan relations are the international relations between the common foreign policy and trade relations of the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
AEIDL is the European Association for Innovation in Local Development. It adopted this new name in June 2022, prior to which it was called the European Association for Information on Local Development/Association Européenne pour l'Information sur le Développement Local.
On 6 May 2015, the European Commission, led at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker, established the Digital Single Market strategy, intended to remove virtual borders, boost digital connectivity, and make it easier for consumers to access cross-border online content across the European Union. The Digital Single Market, which is one of the Commission's 10 political priorities, aims to fit the EU's single market for the digital age, moving from 28 national digital markets to a single one, and then opening up digital services to all citizens and strengthen business competitiveness in the digital economy. In other words, the Digital Single Market is a market characterized by ensuring the free movement of people, services and capital and allowing individuals and businesses to seamlessly access and engage in online activities irrespective of their nationality or place of residence. Fair competition conditions and a high level of protection of personal and consumer data are applied.
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.
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 Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space is a department of the European Commission.
The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is an economic policy initiative launched by the former president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker in the initial exposition of his policy agenda on 15 July 2014. The main target was to create a single market for capital in the whole territory of the EU by the end of 2019. The reasoning behind the idea was to address the issue that corporate finance relies on debt (i.e. bank loans) and the fact that capital markets in Europe were not sufficiently integrated so as to protect the EU and especially the Eurozone from future crisis. The Five Presidents Report of June 2015 proposed the CMU in order to complement the Banking union of the European Union and eventually finish the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) project. The CMU is supposed to attract 2000 billion dollars more on the European capital markets, on the long-term.
The European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) is the European Commission agency which manages decarbonisation and sustainable growth. It is the successor organisation of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). Established on 15 February 2021, with a budget of €50 billion for the 2021-2027 period, it started work on 1 April 2021 in order to implement parts of certain EU programmes. The Agency will have a key role in supporting the European Green Deal, with a focus on creating synergies to support a sustainable, connected, and decarbonised Europe.
