The Single Market Programme brings together several earlier programmes, including COSME, and focuses on the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, consumer protection, standardisation, food safety, and the quality of European statistics. For companies, the most interesting part is the section devoted to supporting entrepreneurship, which funds advisory services, access to foreign markets, clusters, and tools for improving access to financing. Support reaches businesses mostly indirectly, through intermediary organisations that provide services free of charge or for a symbolic fee, rather than in the form of a direct investment grant. This is precisely why it is worth monitoring the offer of national partner institutions through which the programme is implemented, instead of waiting for a classic call. The programme also includes calls for supervisory authorities and consumer associations, which makes it a source of funding for the non-profit sector as well.
See also: Enterprise Europe Network, Grants for Export and Trade Fairs, Advisory voucher.
