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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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...