Project summary

REBORN project will offer EU regions the opportunity for policy learning and good practices transfer in second chance entrepreneurship as in Europe there are not enough tools and knowledge to assist busineses when failure occurs boosting the SMEs of key regional sectors overcoming the bottlenecks that at present exist. REBORN will be the perfect tool to assist the partners’ regions (Liguria, Murcia, Wallonia, Central Hungary and Lubelskie) to strengthen policies and regional development situation by implementing plans to support “restarters” through a better use of ERDF and other complementary funds aligning efforts with a shared goal.


The main objective of REBORN is to contribute to increase European competitiveness and accelerate regional economic growth through the improvement of policy instruments linked to entrepreneurship and business creation support, helping SMEs in all stages of their life cycle, including measures to avoid the "lost entrepreneurship potential", supporting the capacity of SMEs to engage in growth in regional, national and international markets. The economic impact of legal and administrative procedures for business transfers and bankruptcy on entrepreneurship in the region is an important issue to deal with, as well as fostering an entrepreneurial spirit with high tolerance to failure.


REBORN project will contribute, through the incorporation of lessons learnt during the interregional learning into the Actions Plans implemented in the regions, to the Programmes for Investing for Growth and Jobs and European Cohesion, increasing the competitiveness of SMEs in difficulties and enhancing the measures to overcome "stigmatization" of entrepreneurs resulting from bankruptcy.

€785,733.00

from 1 Jan 2017
to 31 Dec 2020
Topic

SME competitiveness

What will this project change?

What policy instruments does the project address?

Liguria Region, in relation to the allocation of resources, binds the concentration on 4 Thematic Objectives: TO1 Research,technological development and innovation TO2 Improving access to ICT,as well as their use and quality TO3 Promoting competitiveness of SMEs TO4 Supporting the transition toward a lowcarbon emission economy in all sectors. REBORN is connected with TO3. it is an important instrument to give new impetus to the region’s economy, allowing the: • support of investment recovery in a period of crisis which has strained the capacity of business investment • accomplishment of complementary and ensuing interventions to research, innovation and technology transfer arising within the framework of TO1, which is expected to create opportunities for the strengthening and creation of new activities • influencing of the Ligurian SME financial environment, to assist them to promptly address market challenges which experience ever-faster changes,transforming situations of economic crisis into development opportunities, thus compensating for the shortcomings of the credit market,both in terms of the economic and structural profile • encouragement of forms of district and collaboration between SMEs. It is strategic the conjugation of the regional strategy for research and innovation with that of internationalisation in relation to the system’s ability to train highly qualified human capital producing process and product innovations to be incorporated within the SMEs. 

Which partners are working on this?
  • FILSE Financial Agency of Liguria Region

The Thematic objective addressed by the Policy Instrument selected, would be the number “03 - Enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)”. This objective have several Investment priorities, being the most significant for REBORN project : 3a – Promoting entrepreneurship, in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators. The priority 3a, aims to develop a comprehensive plan to support entrepreneurship, encourage growth and job creation. Foster entrepreneur local government: promoting entrepreneurship, identifying niches and self-employment, infrastructure development to accommodate business. Promotion and implementation of financing instruments for entrepreneurs and SMEs and make a work of protection and monitoring of business projects to avoid the failure. Although the policy specifically mentions an actionto support SME’s and entrepreneurs in failure risk, no actions are detailed in the Operational Programme and only some punctual initiatives are being developed in this field, mainly by the Regional Development Agency. The policy should design a consistent strategy, including well-planned actions and involving different regional actors, to support entrepreneurs and SMEs under failure risk, but also motivating those who has already failed and encourage entrepreneurs, fighting against one of the most important barriers, the fear of failure.

Which partners are working on this?
  • Murcia Business Innovation Centre (BIC Murcia)

From the Walloon Small Business Act to the Manisfesto for SMEs. To ensure a smooth implementation of the SBA, the Wallonia region initiated a series of measures, converging on the Walloon SME Envoy. Wallonia has reviewed all the Commission’s recommendations on the implementation of the SBA and determined that it is able to implement 41 of the 69 recommendations. The 2012 report showed that 65% of these recommendations have already been fully implemented and 35% have been partially implemented. The region has been successful in the 4 core areas of entrepreneurship, internationalization, financing and innovation. The area of public administration has also been successfully restructured to respond to the needs of SMEs. Despite the progress made, the CESW found in 2014 that the Walloon SBA still lacked intensity and scope. The favoured approach was to involve SMEs directly in the process of drawing up the "Manifesto for SMEs". Thus far, the region is relatively weak in the area of second chances. To improve this, the region has already set itself clear goals for the coming yearsto follow up on and to strengthen the implementation of the SBA by the phasing-in of the new policy instrument “Manifesto for SMEs”. This new policy instrument wants to intensify the dynamic in favour of micro-enterprises & SMEs, to enable businesses to recover by strengthening the specific support tools for businesses in difficulty and allow them to have a second chance in case of failure. 

Which partners are working on this?
  • Agency for Enterprise & Innovation

Under the Priority 1 of the EDIOP Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme the policy instrument entitled to “Dissemination of competitive entrepreneurial knowledge” is addressed. This policy instrument aims to increase the currently low entrepreneurial activity and prolonged the business life of manufacturing and service providing SMEs (which is under the EU average) by gaining entrepreneurial knowledge, information, and background infrastructure via providing access to entrepreneurial mentoring and business incubators. The indicator of 3 year surviving rate of the enterprises in less developed regional will be increased from the base value 52.15 per cent (2011) to 53 per cent by 2023. The current policy instrument is only setting directions on what to achieve as a final outcome, but provides no continuous analysis & monitoring of activities addressed to improve the entrepreneurial knowledge and competences, resulting in fragmented political interventions and the lack of system approach in follow-up. Deep dive in interregional good policy making practices will contribute to this process. 

Which partners are working on this?
  • IFKA Public Benefit Non-Profit Ltd. for the Development of the Industry

The main objective of the ROP–Axis 3 is to increase the competitiveness of SMEs through actions proposed by the RIS3 plan (SME’s support in alternative funding, internationalization, regional structures for innovation support, incubators, direct co-financing etc.). The main characteristics of the specific Regional Action Plan that will be an outcome of the project, include activities to promote the economic attractiveness of the regional economy, especially for giving a second chance to SMEs and entrepreneurs that facing bankruptcy and the negative impact and results of the remaining financial crisis in Greece and its regions after seven years of high taxes and social security contributions.Τhe priority among other actions of the policy instrument chosen is high.Region of Western Macedonia will prepare a Regional Action Plan for Axis 3 structural funds of the ROP that will combine the project REBORN objectives and lessons learnt with the regional strategy on SME’s support and funding. Until now no actions at all regarding assistance in any possible way to SME’s facing bankruptcy or other difficulties in further economic developing was given through the former ROP’s and structural funds. Financial aid and any other possible assistance was mainly given to healthy SME’s.With the support and the knowledge that will come out of the best practises given by REBORN project the selected policy tool will be dramatically improved in this specific focus for the first time. 

Which partners are working on this?
  • Regional Development Fund on behalf of the Region of Western Macedonia

RIS LV 2020 elaborates in detail the Development Strategy of the Lubelskie Voivodeship (2020) in the section dedicated to the development of research and innovation for smart specialisation. RIS LV 2020 priorities that are relevant to the project are: Priority 1. Increasing the ability of business entities to create and absorb knowledge and implement innovation, particularly in areas of regional smart specialisation and Priority 3. Strengthening business environmentinstitutions and public administration bodies open to innovation.

 

Regional smart specialisation areas include: bioeconomy, medicine&health, low carbon-emission energy and IT&automation. Improvement needs in the policy instrument relevant for the project include: (1) stimulating the level of innovation driven entrepreneurship on regional, national and international markets, (2)fostering cooperation between business and R&D, (3) increasing added value in the economy, especially in the smart specialisation areas, (4) raising awareness of business environment and administration to provide new solution and policy instrumentsto end-users, and (5) enhancing better RIS LV 2020 implementation.

 

Some of the aims of implementing RIS LV 2020 is increasing the number of SMEs per 10,000 residents as well as their propensity to cooperate with other companies and research institutes and to create innovate products, we believe the re-starting companies could be an asset in this respect and nothing is taken into account in RIS3. 

Which partners are working on this?
  • Lubelskie Voivodeship