3 July 2014, Brussels – The European Commission has this week adopted a Communication entitled, ‘Green Action Plan: Enabling SMEs to turn environmental challenges into business opportunities’. The Action Plan presents SME-oriented actions proposed at the European level to help SMEs to benefit from the transition to a greener economy. The plan puts forward measures for improving resource efficiency of SMEs, supporting green entrepreneurship, exploiting the opportunities of greener value chains and facilitating market access for green SMEs.
3 July 2014, Brussels – The European Commission has this week adopted a Communication entitled, ‘Green Action Plan: Enabling SMEs to turn environmental challenges into business opportunities’. The Action Plan presents SME-oriented actions proposed at the European level to help SMEs to benefit from the transition to a greener economy. The plan puts forward measures for improving resource efficiency of SMEs, supporting green entrepreneurship, exploiting the opportunities of greener value chains and facilitating market access for green SMEs.
The Action Plan has also been accompanied by a list of EU actions for supporting SMEs in a green economy. This list indicates how existing EU funding instruments and initiatives link together to support the above goals. Resource efficiency, in particular, has been a focus for the Commission, with SMEs expected to be a major beneficiary of structural funds for the period 2014-2020, as the Commission has asked Managing Authorities to fund more projects in this area. The SME Instrument of Horizon 2020 should also help to support highly innovative SMEs.
The Commission intends to establish a Resource Efficiency Excellence Centre in 2015 to assist SMEs to improve their resource efficiency, both directly and through a network of partners across Europe. An expert group will also be established for supporting systemic eco-innovation in Horizon 2020 to support the circular economy.
To read the Green Action Plan for SMEs, click here.