Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

European Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals COS-WP2014-4-05 “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” has been published by the European Commission, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME).

The purpose of the current “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” call is to promote growth and to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of enterprises in the European Union. The pilot project ‘ERASMUS for Young Entrepreneurs’ launched in 2008 operated mainly on the basis of call for proposals whereby Intermediary Organisations (IOs) was selected to manage the programme locally. After several call for proposals of this nature the programme, which showed promising results, the action was turned into a more consolidated programme, under the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme. In 2014, the Council and the European Parliament adopted the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium Enterprises (COSME), that includes the mobility of new entrepreneurs among the Actions to Promote Entrepreneurship.

 

The overall objective of the “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” call is to enhance entrepreneurship, develop the international outlook and competitiveness of European SMEs and foster potential start-up entrepreneurs and newly-established micro and small enterprises in the Participating Countries.

 

The “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” call aims to select bodies which will act as Intermediary Organisations (IOs) to implement the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme at local level. They will, in particular, recruit and assist the entrepreneurs who will benefit from the programme. This call will therefore support actions of organisations enhancing and facilitating the mobility of new entrepreneurs, and is not intended for entrepreneurs willing to participate in the programme. The Intermediary Organisations will be required to cooperate with all other organisations and authorities involved in the mobility programme, enabling new entrepreneurs to take part in mobility activities as agreed. They will receive support from the existing Support Office (SO), which helps with the coordination and management of the programme across Participating Countries. These organisations will help new entrepreneurs from Participating Countries enrich their experience, deepen their knowledge and expand their network by spending periods in enterprises run by experienced entrepreneurs in other Participating Countries.

 

By awarding grants to promote the mobility of new entrepreneurs through the actions under the current “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” call, the Commission's specific goals are:

- To provide on-the-job-training for new entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized enterprises elsewhere in the Participating Countries in order to facilitate a successful start-up, and development of their business ideas;

- To foster sharing of experience and information between entrepreneurs on the obstacles and challenges of starting up and developing their businesses;

- To enhance market access and identification of potential partners for new and established businesses in other EU and Participating Countries;

- To support networking between entrepreneurs from different Participating Countries by building on knowledge and experience from other Participating Countries.

The Intermediary Organisations will deliver high quality standards so as to deliver the following expected output for this call for proposals:

- further developing a network of new entrepreneurs (NEs), host entrepreneurs (HEs) and Intermediary Organisations (IOs)

- enabling around 650 new entrepreneurs to work alongside and learn from a host entrepreneur in another Participating Country. Therefore, 1300 entrepreneurs should be involved in this action by early 2017.

- creating new businesses, joint ventures and spin-off companies and foster cross-border business cooperation

-enhancing the international activities and innovation potential of host entrepreneurs.

 

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of the action under the current “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” call is estimated at EUR 4 120 000 maximum, for the period 2015-2017. The rate of Union co-financing shall be up to 90 % of eligible costs incurred by the Intermediary Organizations. The European Union contribution shall not exceed 75 % of the programme management costs but may be up to 100 % of the sum allocated by beneficiaries (Intermediary Organizations) to third parties (sub-grantee. i.e. new entrepreneurs) participating in a mobility action. Financial assistance to new entrepreneurs participating in a mobility action shall take the form of a scale of unit cost of maximum EUR 6 600 per entrepreneur within the limit of EUR 500 000 by grant.

 

The deadline for submitting proposals in the framework of the current “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” call for proposals is 17 July 2014.

 

Further information on the current call for proposals is available on the European Commission’s web site at: http://ec.europa.eu/easme/eye_en.htm