COVID-19
ECCP News
What funding and support is available for SMEs?
To help SMEs navigate the current economic crisis, the European Commission has created several funding schemes. In particular, the REACT-EU funding scheme is a comprehensive and ambitious recovery plan. It will play a key role in ensuring a balanced recovery, fostering convergence, and ensuring no...
ECCP News
How virtual marketplaces make SMEs more resilient
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the health crisis has had a huge impact on SMEs globally. Since then, they face a challenging economic climate while having to deliver competitive and high-quality services. Many SMEs found it difficult to stay connected to their customers during the...
ECCP News
EU budget to help Europe on the road to a green, digital, and resilient future
On 8 June, the European Commission proposed an annual budget of €167.8 billion for 2022, as well as an additional €143.5 billion under NextGenerationEU. The draft budget is part of the EU’s long-term plan, which was adopted at the end of 2020. It seeks to turn key priorities into concrete actions...
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EU Strategy for the development of COVID-19 therapeutics
The European Commission has created a new strategy on COVID-19 therapeutics to complement the successful EU Vaccines Strategy. The strategy will support the development and availability of much-needed COVID-19 therapeutics, including treatments for ‘long COVID'. It covers research, development and...
ECCP News
Collective intelligence as a driver of value in innovation ecosystems
In the meeting of the European Alliance Against Coronavirus on 4 March, Jaime Quesado from the Strategic Council of CEIIA (Center of Excellence and Innovation of Mobility) spoke about the importance of developing collective intelligence for the future. To do this, we need an overview of where we...
ECCP News
European Commission disburses 13 billion euros under SURE to six Member States
The European Commission has disbursed €13 billion to six EU Member States in the sixth instalment of financial support under the Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) instrument. Helping Member States through COVID-19 As part of SURE, Czechia has received €1 billion, Belgium...
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COVID-19 vaccines upscale production matchmaking event
On the 29 and 31 March, the European Cluster Collaboration Platform successfully organised the first EU matchmaking event on COVID-19 vaccines production. In partnership with the European Clusters Alliance (ECA) and the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR), the European Commission’s Task Force for...
ECCP News
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs adapts to better support EU economy
The Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) is adapting its organisational structure to help Europe’s industrial ecosystems recover more effectively from the COVID-19 crisis and achieve the EU's digital and green goals. A new focus on industrial...
ECCP News
COVID-19: Lessons for the new EU Industrial Strategy
In a meeting of the European Alliance Against Coronavirus on 9 February 2021, the group discussed important lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis that are relevant for the update of the Industrial Strategy of the European Commission. Veronica Elena Bocci (DITECFER) highlighted the importance of...
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Designing new business models for clusters in 2021
On 17 March, around 190 participants attended our capacity-building webinar on ‘Designing new cluster business models capacity building’. The webinar focussed on peer-to-peer learning about how clusters can improve their business models to better handle the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis....
ECCP News
European Commission proposes emergency measures against COVID-19
A recent press release from the European Commission outlines how the EU is putting forward a package of almost €530 million in additional financial support under the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF). The package will contribute to the efforts of 17 Member States and 3 accession countries (Austria, Belgium...
ECCP News
Position paper: Powering up a sustainable and fair energy transition in Europe
A rapid, fair and broad energy system transition is the only solution for a successful post-COVID recovery guided by the principles of the EU Green Deal, and for Europe to achieve its objective of becoming the first climate-neutral continent (in 2050). Europe's Clean Energy Package, adopted in...