European Programme Growth

Support the entrepreneurial capacity of migrants

The call for proposals 225-G-GRO-PPA-16-9233 “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” has been published by the European Commission, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs.

Europe is facing an unprecedented wave of migration: European countries have become an immigration destination for many populations facing distress in their home countries. The economic integration of migrants is one of the priorities of the EU comprehensive approach to migration. It is crucial to empower migrants and refugees to develop the skills and to get access to knowledge and support schemes that can enable them to build a solid livelihood, and also to create added value. This should include the possibility of becoming entrepreneurs and thus contribute to further job creation. Entrepreneurship is one of the ways to ensure the integration and the economic independence of migrants.

The purpose of the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) includes interventions that target legally-staying third-country nationals in the territory of the EU who can attend training activities according to the applicable legislation in the host country. In order to avoid redundant definitions, in the text of this call for proposals the above target group will be thereafter generically referred to as “migrants” or as “having a migrant background”.

The aim of the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) covers business support measures specifically targeting migrants, as well as those measures that are available to the general population. In the latter case, however, the focus should be exclusively on interventions that support the access of migrants to business services for the mainstream population, and on actions for the general population that foresee specific provisions and services for migrants (e.g. a training courses provided in several languages, etc.).

The objective of the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) will be to help migrants to become self-employed and build a successful enterprise (profit-generating and/or with social objectives).

Amongst the eligible actions, the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) will focus on: training courses (e.g. on entrepreneurship, business planning, legal aspects of setting up a company and hiring employees, etc.) and mentoring schemes for migrant entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs.

Eligible applicants within the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) are organisations that are active in supporting the economic and social integration of migrants and/or in supporting entrepreneurs. Such entities may include:

− public authorities and public administrations (at the national, regional or city level);

− chamber of commerce and industry and similar bodies;

− business associations and business support networks;

− business support organisations and incubators;

− NGOs, non-profit organisations, associations and foundations working with migrants;

− education and training providers (public and private).

 

The total budget earmarked for the financing of the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) is 2.150.000 €. The financial contribution from the Commission cannot exceed 85 % of the total eligible costs.

 

The deadline for submitting proposals in the framework of the current “Entrepreneurial capacity building for young migrants” call for proposals, published by the European Commission (Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs) is 30 November 2016.

 

Further information on the current call for proposals is available on the European Commission’s web site at: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8916.