Deadline: 30-Nov-21
The European Commission (EC) has launched a call for proposals for the Euroclusters for Europe’s Recovery to help in the implementation of the updated industrial strategy.
The Euroclusters will contribute to the implementation of the European Commission’s New Industrial Strategy for Europe as well as its updated Strategy that was published in May 2021 and the SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe adopted in March 2020 by building resilience and accelerating transition to green and digital economy.
Objectives
Proposals must aim at achieving all of the following specific objectives, with the focus on at least one leading objective:
- Network for resilience to improve the resilience of the EU industrial ecosystems by developing value chains interlinkages in the EU Single Market;
- Innovate for strategic autonomy to build capacity in the most critical supplies and technologies of their ecosystems;
- Adopt processes and technologies to reinforce transformation into a greener and more digital economy;
- Train to foster up- and re-skilling of the workforce whilst attracting talents;
- Go international to boost access to global supply and value chains
Themes and Priorities
Proposals must be focused on only one of the 15 strands of the call listed:
- Open Strand: this strand invites proposals focused on cross fertilisation of various industrial ecosystems with no specific focus on one industrial ecosystem.
- 14 Industrial Ecosystem Strands:
- Tourism,
- Mobility-Transport-Automotive,
- Aerospace & Defence,
- Construction,
- Agri-food,
- Energy Intensive Industries,
- Textile,
- Creative & Cultural Industries,
- Digital,
- Renewable Energy,
- Electronics,
- Retail,
- Proximity & Social Economy, and
- Health.
Funding Information
The available call budget is EUR 42 000 000.
Expected Outcomes
- develop solutions and anticipate challenges for disruption in critical EU value chains,
- accelerate transition towards greener and more digital SMEs,
- the industrial deployment of technologies, foster their markets and promote the EU as a global frontrunner in line with the objectives of the New Industrial Strategy for Europe,
- improve management, coordination and collaboration capacity of EU clusters among different industrial ecosystems in the EU single market,
- accelerate the development of more world-class clusters in all participating countries to better support SMEs from the European Union in global competition,
- encourage cluster consortia to work across sectoral boundaries, to exploit synergies and complementarities and develop a joint ‘European’ strategic vision resilient to external shocks,
- help EU SMEs access third markets and generate growth from international activities,
- contribute to the reskilling and upskilling of the cluster human capital across the EU.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the COSME part of the Single Market Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature
- be or represent a cluster organisation, a Single Market Programme (SMP) cluster network, or other types of organisations supporting green and digital transitions and build EU resilience.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2X3kgZe