Proposal to present our consortium to give services in the Basque Region , in order to request for the invitation to "Services enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs ( Horizon2020) for the 2014 year. SPRI supports the Basque Government Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness in developing the Basque Country’s strategy for smart specialisation. Part of the basis of our work consists of allocating research funds to improve the competitiveness of the Basque Country, always seeking the balance between public and private resources, with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of people and the competitiveness of enterprises. Enhancing Innovation Management Capacities Service Our department for Strategic Initiatives and Projects strives to perform cross-sectional diagnosis of any new project, individual company, group of companies or sector that enables it to be focused towards the enhancement and diversification of the industrial fabric, towards advanced industry and smart specialisation. These services are foreseen to be provided by SPRI’s department for Strategic Initiatives and Projects, which follows as aforementioned the Basque RIS3 Strategies. People involved in this department will be the ones conducting this pilot under BASQUE_SME project. We strongly agree on the idea that supporting innovation management is crucial if we want to make a more competitive fabric tissue. In this sense, our intention is to link this pilot action with 2 main initiatives within the Basque RIS3. Key Account Manager (KAM) Service WWe should stress that the Basque Country views HORIZON 2020 as an opportunity, this is why we are really looking forward and we’re excited about participating in the deployment of this KAM service, for which experience and motivated people have been assigned.

EU-28 SMEs made a significant contribution to the recovery and subsequent expansion of the EU-28 economy. They accounted for 47% of the total increase from 2008 to 2017 in the value added generated by the non-financial business sector, and for 52% of the cumulative increase in employment in the sector. In fact, their contribution exceeded what would have been expected on the basis of their relative importance in the economy. The internationalisation of SMEs is this year's special theme. SMEs can expand internationally in a number of different ways. Examples include exporting or importing goods and services, making outward foreign direct investment or attracting foreign investors to their business, becoming part of a national value chain which has an international focus, or being part of a global value chain, engaging in cross-border R&D and innovation collaboration, or licencing or franchising products or services. Thus, innovation management plays a key role at this respect and the Basque Country is not an exception at all. Programs supporting SME exports benefit directly only a sub-set of SMEs. However, indirectly, all SMEs benefit to some extent from growth in exports as higher exports raises a) overall income levels, and hence the demand for goods and services sold by domestic demand facing SMEs, and b) the demand for goods and services originating from exporting- oriented enterprises. Some of the main drivers for a high competitiveness score can be linked to the presence of strong skills and innovation capacity and capability, entrepreneurship and easy access to finance. In the Basque Country we are very much aware of this scenario and that is why the Basque Node has designed an implementation plan aiming at contributing to the objectives of COSME. Facilitating access to European and international markets for Basque SMEs and by providing growth-oriented, integrated business and innovation support services that help strengthen the competitiveness.

The EU considers SMEs and entrepreneurship as key to ensure economic growth, innovation, job creation and social integration in the European Union. SMEs are the backbone of Europe’s economy since they represent 99% of all businesses in the European Union, employing 93 million people and generating 57 % of value added in the sector. The general macro-economic environment in the EU-28 in 2016 strengthened SME activity in all industries due to the expansion of all categories of final demand. In previous years, the main driver of SME recovery was exports. The year 2016 marked the third consecutive year of steady increases in EU-28 SME employment and EU-28 SME value added. As a result of the recent upturn, EU-28 SME employment has finally recovered from the 2008/2009 economic and financial crisis and even slightly exceeded the 2008 level in 2016. The level of value added generated by EU-28 SMEs showed even greater recovery, at 11 % higher than in 2008. This has also been the trend of Basque SMEs during the same period. Programs supporting SME exports benefit directly only a sub-set of SMEs. However, indirectly, all SMEs benefit to some extent from growth in exports as higher exports raises a) overall income levels, and hence the demand for goods and services sold by domestic demand facing SMEs, and b) the demand for goods and services originating from exporting- oriented enterprises. Some of the main drivers for a high competitiveness score can be linked to the presence of strong skills and innovation capacity and capability, entrepreneurship and easy access to finance. In the Basque Country we are very much aware of this scenario and that is why the Basque Node has designed an implementation plan aiming at contributing to the objectives of COSME. Facilitating access to European and international markets for Basque SMEs and by providing growth-oriented, integrated business and innovation support services that help strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability.

Across the EU28 last year, some 21.6 million SMEs in the non‐financial business sector employed 88.8 million people and generated €3,666 trillion in value added. Expressed another way, 99 out of every 100 businesses are SMEs, as are 2 in every 3 employees and 58 cents in every euro of value added. It is important to note that while the prospects for SME success are tied with macro‐ economic developments, they by no means identically mirror all of them. As the majority of SMEs operate in sectors that serve domestic demand, for example, they did not share in the benefits of increased foreign demand, which was the key macro‐ economic driver of growth from 2008 to 2013. Many SMEs are not in export‐oriented sectors, particularly the micro and small enterprises. Thus, programs supporting SME exports benefit directly only a sub‐set of SMEs. However, indirectly, all SMEs benefit to some extent from growth in exports as higher exports raises a) overall income levels, and hence the demand for goods and services sold by domestic demand facing SMEs, and b) the demand for goods and services originating from exporting‐oriented enterprises. Yet in an increasingly internationalized world, there are competitive advantages for those businesses that begin with a global strategy and can move quickly to take advantage of cross‐border activities. Providing further, tailored support for this growing asset class would form a key step in allowing SMEs to leverage the benefits of increased foreign demand. In the Basque Country we’re very much aware of this scenario and that’s why the Network consortium partners participating in this action have design a implementation plan aiming at contributing to the objectives of COSME and H2020. That is, facilitating access to European and international markets for Basque SMEs and by providing growth-oriented, integrated business and innovation support services that help strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of the enterprises in our region.

SMEs are the backbone of Europe's economy. They represent 99% of all businesses in the EU. In the past five years, they have created around 85% of new jobs and provided two-thirds of the total private sector employment in the EU. It is important to note that while the prospects for SME success are tied with macro-economic developments, they by no means identically mirror all of them. As the majority of SMEs operate in sectors that serve domestic demand, for example, they did not share in the benefits of increased foreign demand, which was the key macro-economic driver of growth from 2008 to 2015. This has been also the case of Basque SMEs during the same period. Many SMEs are not in export‐oriented sectors, particularly the micro and small enterprises. Thus, programs supporting SME exports benefit directly only a sub‐set of SMEs. However, indirectly, all SMEs benefit to some extent from growth in exports as higher exports raises a) overall income levels, and hence the demand for goods and services sold by domestic demand facing SMEs, and b) the demand for goods and services originating from exporting‐oriented enterprises. Yet in an increasingly internationalized world, there are competitive advantages for those businesses that begin with a global strategy and can move quickly to take advantage of cross‐border activities. Providing further, tailored support for this growing asset class would form a key step in allowing SMEs to leverage the benefits of increased foreign demand. In the Basque Country we’re very much aware of this scenario and that’s why the Network consortium partners participating in this action have design a implementation plan aiming at contributing to the objectives of COSME and H2020. That is, facilitating access to European and international markets for Basque SMEs and by providing growth-oriented, integrated business and innovation support services that help strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of the enterprises in our region.