The CIP is undertaken through the following funding schemes:
A. Community financial instruments for SMEs – that aim to cover market gaps in the supply of debt and equity finance to SMEs. These instruments are managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) on behalf of the European Commission and implemented via financial intermediaries or specialised funds.
B. Pilot and market replication projects – projects concerned with the first application or market replication of innovative or eco-innovative techniques, products or practices of European relevance, which have already been technically demonstrated with success but which, owing to residual risk, have not yet significantly penetrated the market. These projects shall be designed to promote broader utilisation of such techniques, products or practices and facilitate their market uptake.
C. Policy analysis, development, coordination, twinning, best practice exchange and thematic networks
- studies, data collection, surveys and publications,
- twinning and meetings of experts, including experts from public institutions, experts sent by SMEs and other interested parties, conferences and other events,
- awareness raising, networking and other relevant activities,
- benchmarking of national and regional performances, and work on good practices, including their dissemination and implementation,
- best practice actions to spread knowledge and share experience across Europe, which will be linked to thematic networks bringing together a variety of stakeholders around a given objective so as to facilitate coordination activities and the transfer of knowledge.
With the exception of the financial instruments, the funding schemes presented above are based on the co-financing principle, meaning that the Commission contributes, in the form of a grant, a given percentage of the project’s overall eligible costs (as defined for each specific Call). For further information on specific Calls, please refer to the link of the particular programme of interest found at the top of this page.
