Enterprise Europe Network

Enterprise Europe Network advisory services^[3] support businesses seeking to expand into international markets. The services cover a wide range of regulatory areas and market intelligence:

• Compliance with EU regulations and standards (e.g. CE marking)
• Access to international markets – market intelligence and capacity building
• International public contracts –access to cross-border procurement and EU tender opportunities
• National and regional finance and funding – identification of sources of finance and investor-readiness training
• EU funding schemes and application support
• Intellectual property rights (IPR) – patents and IPR applications and exploitation strategies
• Energy and resource efficiency – identification of technologies and finance opportunities
• Management improvement – capacity building

Enterprise Europe Network innovation support services^[4] are available based on an assessment of the needs and development phase of the business.

At an entry level, Network services include:

• information on innovation-related policies, legislation and support programmes
• links with local innovation stakeholders
• information about access to local sources of funding/support

Network experts can provide one-to-one services to support innovation capacity building. Services include innovation audits, advice on intellectual property, marketing and access to finance.

Finally, the Network provides key account management services to businesses benefitting from the Horizon 2020 SME instrument programme,^[5] part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot.

The Enterprise Europe Network was launched on 7 February 2008 by former EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen. The Enterprise Europe Network combines the previous Euro Info Centres and the Innovation Relay Centres. From 2008 to 2014, the Network was co-financed by the EU's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), in cooperation with institutions at national and regional levels. From 2015 to 2020, the Network was co-financed under the European Union's programme for the competitiveness of SMEs^[6] (COSME) and Horizon 2020.^[7]

Under the responsibility of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs,^[8] the Enterprise Europe Network is managed by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME).^[9]

• Official Enterprise Europe Network Website
• Final evaluation of the impact of the Enterprise Europe Network 2008-2014 (executive summary): Final evaluation of the impact of the Enterprise Europe Network 2008-2014 : executive summary. Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission). Publications Office. 2015-11-27. ISBN 9789279528019. Retrieved 2018-07-23. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
• Final evaluation of the impact of the Enterprise Europe Network 2008-2014 (full report): Final evaluation of the impact of the Enterprise Europe Network 2008-2014 : report. Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission). Publications Office. 2015-11-27. ISBN 9789279528002. Retrieved 2018-07-23. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
• Interim Evaluation of the COSME Programme Final Report: "DocsRoom - European Commission". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2018-07-23..