EU Commission agrees long-term support for small and medium-sized enterprises
The Council of the European Commission has agreed on the main elements of the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Programme (called COSME) which is designed to boost the creation, growth and competitiveness of this category of companies across the EU.
- COSME budget of 2.5 billion euros for the whole period.
- Final adoption of this 7-year programme (2014-2020) by 2013.
The COSME programme includes two financial instruments:
- Equity facility to provide venture capital for an enterprise’s growth phase.
- Loan guarantee facility to cover loans of a certain size for all types of SMEs.
Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs programme (Europa portal)