Project Implementation of the European Charter for Small and Mediumsized Enterprises in Croatia

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ProjectImplementation of the European Charter
for Small and Medium-sized Enterprisesin Croatia
Regione del Veneto
Regione AutonomaFriuli Venezia Giulia
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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Project Partnership
• Italian Partners
• Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia
  promoter
• Informest implementing body
• Region of Veneto
• Unioncamere Veneto Euro Info Centre Veneto
• Croatian Partners
• County of Istra
• County Primorsko-goranska
• County Dubrovacko-neretvanska
• Duration of the Project
• 12 months

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Implementation of the European Charter for
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Croatian Beneficiaries
• County of Istra
• County Primorsko-goranska
• County Dubrovacko-neretvanska
• Local stakeholders

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• General Project Objective
• To disseminate the knowledge and to implement the
  principles and purposes of the European Charter
  for Small Enterprises.
• To assist Croatian regional authorities in the
  process of policys innovaton and projects
  generation in support of SME development.

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Specific Project Objectives
• To spread the awareness about the importance of
  SMEs for regional and local development
• Adoption of steps aimed at adjusting the existing
  legislation to the principles of the Charter
• To spread the knowledge about the relation
  between the principles of the Charter and the
  European Community acquis
• Promotion of innovation policies relevant for the
  development of SMEs, to be implemented by local
  and regional authorities
• Generation of innovative project ideas, also on
  the basis of public-private partnership.

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Activities to be implemented
• Technical assistance in the activity of comparing
  the existing Croatian legislation with the
  principles of the Charter
• Dissemination of the principles and purposes of
  the Charter
• Explanation through workshops and training
  seminars of the relation between the principles
  of the Charter and the Community acquis
  relevant to SMEs
• Generation of innovative policies relevant to
  SMEs, implemented by local and regional
  authorities
• Creation of public-private partnerships for the
  generation of innovative projects in support of
  SME development
• Study seminars and exchange of best practices
  focused on the relationship between SMEs and
  public administration between Croatian and
  Italian entrepreneurs and civil servants

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Phase 1. Technical assistance in the activity of
  comparing the existing Croatian legislation with
  the principles of the Charter. Analysis of local
  SME needs.
• Phase 2. Communication strategy about the
  principles and purposes of the Charter
• Preparation of County SME Charters aimed at
  presenting the principles of the European Charter
  for Small enterprises to a target of at least
  1,000 public and private subjects in each County
• Organisation of an SMEs week aimed at
  presenting European and Italian best practices
  and discussing them with Croatian stakeholders
• Phase 3. Explanation through consultative working
  groups and training seminars of the relation
  between the principles of the Charter and the
  Community acquis relevant to SMEs
• Creation of at least 3 advisory working groups
  in each County among public and private
  stakeholders
• Administrative procedures (one-stop-shops,
  enterprise registration, etc.)
• Credit, financing, state aid (focus on innovative
  actions, technology transfer, environment,
  etc.)
• SMEs Internationalization and services to
  enterprises

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Phase 4. Technical Assistance for the generation
  of innovative projects for local and regional
  authorities relevant to SMEs
• Phase 5. Creation of public-private partnerships
  for the generation and realisation of innovative
  projects for SMEs
• Phase 6. Study seminars and exchange of best
  practices between Croatian and Italian
  entrepreneurs and civil servants

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Expected Results
• Increased awareness about the principles of the
  Charter and the role of SMEs
• Adoption of measures aimed at adjusting the
  Croatian legislation to the principles of the
  Charter
• Cultural preparation of civil servants and of
  relevant subjects of the private sector to the
  harmonisation with the Community acquis
  relevant to SMEs
• Development of partnership procedures for the
  promotion of continual innovation of local and
  regional policies in support of SMEs
• Drawing up new project ideas in support of SMEs
• Sharing experiences between Croatian and Italian
  civil servants
• Meetings between Croatian and Italian
  entrepreneurs

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Performed activities 1/3 (Jan Apr 2005)
• Identification of the relevant legislation in
  force in Croatia and benchmarking with the
  Italian and EU best practices and experiences
• First seminar with the stakeholders in 3 Counties
• to identify the perception of the SME needs from
  the point of view of the institutions
• Interview of about 30-50 companies in each County
• to collect concrete information directly from
  SMEs about their needs in terms of services and
  support
• Production of the County SME Charter and
  distribution to 1,000 selected addresses in each
  County

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Performed activities 2/3 (Jan Apr 2005)
• SME WEEK in Primorsko-goranska County
• Presentation of the EU Charter and of the project
  to the media coverage in local press and
  national TV
• Seminar with the SMEs on EU market accessibility
• 3 thematic workshops with stakeholders on
• European criteria and regional experiences in
  state aids for SMEs
• Guidelines for competitive cooperation and growth
  of the wood processing cluster
• Benchmarking the County Master Plan on tourism
  with Italian best practices
• Final conference on Innovative Policy Making for
  SME development
• Recent innovation of Regional policy for SMEs in
  Italy and the influence of EU learned lessons

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Implementation of the European Charter for Small
and Medium-sized Enterprises Croatia

• Performed activities 3/3 (Jan Apr 2005)
• Identification of the priorities in the 3
  Counties - Planning of the working groups
  activities with the aim of generating the
  following innovative projects
• Primorsko-goranska County
• Financial Services to SMEs
• Creation of a Regional Guarantee Fund
• Non-financial Services to SMEs
• Innovation, Environmental certification ,
  technology transfer
• Public-Private Partnership
• Services to the emergent clusters Administrative
  semplification, Incubators, District
  qualification
• County of Istra
• Creation of the SME Regional Data Base
• Development and management of clusters
• EU services for SME internationalization
• County of Dubrovnik-Neretva
• Creation of a Regional Development Agency