EUROCHAMBRES Position Paper 2006

Transcription

1 EUROCHAMBRES Position Paper 2006 FUTURE OF THE EIC NETWORK The Chambers contribution to the upcoming call for proposals June 2006

2 The role of Euro Info Centres (EIC) and the missions of Chambers of Commerce Industry (CCI) are complementary: EICs inform and assist business on EU matters, help with their internationalisation, and provide feedback to the European Commission about community matters affecting SMEs. Chambers of Commerce promote entrepreneurial values and economic development as a whole, representing the general interest. Chambers offer a wide range of services to enterprises including business development support, economic intelligence, and support in the field of foreign trade and co-operation. The services, provided by the EICs, are incorporated in the total package of services to SMEs of the Chambers. They complement, enrich and widen the range and scope of this service package and contribute to its European dimensions. Chambers of Commerce, however, differ from any other business support organisation by virtue of their truly local presence and territorial focus. Within the EU some Chambers of Commerce operate at the regional and local levels. No other network provides such coverage. No other network has this outreach capacity. Furthermore, Chambers of Commerce represent the general business interest as they are comprised of businesses from every sector and every size. In Europe they are in daily direct contact with 19.3 million enterprises that are Chamber members, of which 99.5 % are SMEs. In this respect, Chambers of Commerce constitute a unique type of organisation among the EIC host structures. Due to the many similarities in services and customers, many Chambers of Commerce have traditionally hosted EICs and are as a result the most represented hosting organisations with 40% of EICs housed in Chambers of Commerce. Chambers of Commerce are the most effective structures within the EIC network. It is against this background that European Chambers of Commerce formulate the following recommendations on the future call for proposal for the renewal of the EIC network. SUMMARY OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMBERS POSITION The geographical coverage of the new network should take into account national disparities, and encourage maximum flexibility in the approach taken by the bidders. Proximity to SMEs is also fundamental to the operation of an EIC. The notion of innovative companies should not be restricted to companies engaged in R&D. It is a much broader concept embracing all kinds of innovative activities undertaken by SMEs in their struggle to be competitive, and improve their services and operations. By enlarging the definition of innovation to its more extensive meaning, many actions and clients of EICs can qualify as innovative. Chambers of Commerce fully share the Commission s view on the importance of reducing the administrative burden and facilitating contractual management. In this regard, we strongly welcome multi-annual contracts. The creation of consortia is another solution to achieve less bureaucracy which should be encouraged but not forced by making it a formal criterion. Chambers of Commerce support the flexible approach taken by the Commission regarding the composition of the consortia allowing separate consortia for EIC services only and for IRC services only. However we urge the Commission to make the consortium a much looser and flexible regime to benefit from the various forms of cooperation already in place in many countries to enhance the impact of a single EIC hosted by a Chamber. Chambers of Commerce welcome the no wrong door concept to facilitate access by SMEs to the different types of services and to ensure coordination and cooperation among all network partners at local level. Partnerships EIC/IRC and close collaboration should be enhanced. 2

3 The efficiency of the EIC network and the quality of the services delivered can be further increased thanks to the expertise and know-how of the host organisations in these fields. In this respect, Chambers of Commerce can bring a lot to the EIC network: a culture of quality and professionalism, the network effect to amplify the potential of a single EIC, and a truly integration of the services offered by the EIC with the Chamber s services. Chambers of Commerce call into question the use of external evaluators to assess the proposals, and ask the Commission to include Commission officials who understand the EIC/IRC networks in the evaluation process. We also urge the Commission to validate the evaluation criteria before the launch of the call for proposals. 3

4 A. AN OPTIMAL GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE Chambers of Commerce share the Commission s view that an optimal geographical coverage should include a full regional coverage, while taking into account the proximity of the networks to SMEs. Full regional coverage Article 20.3 of the Commission proposal COM (2005) 0121 opens different scenarios in relation to the geographical coverage of the future network. Chambers of Commerce constitute a network deeply rooted at local, regional and national levels, and since the beginning of the EIC network have developed tailor-made solutions for business at all these levels (national, multiregional, regional). This experience represents, in our opinion, a real added-value for the EIC network that no other organisations can offer. We believe that the future network should build on this. Moreover, allowing only one EIC per region at a certain NUTS-level will not give an appropriate coverage in some EU countries due to industrial density. For this reason we support the idea that the geographical coverage should take into account national disparities, and encourage maximum flexibility in the approach taken by the bidders. The only precondition should be the EIC effectiveness Proximity to SMEs Chambers of Commerce by their very nature are in business for business. Their decision-making structures are made of entrepreneurs who have designed the Chambers of Commerce to serve the interest of all business, of every sector and every size. They are closer to SMEs than any other organisations, as a result of the Chambers regional focus. In the EU, some Chambers of Commerce have a direct contact with 19.3 million enterprises, of which 99.5% are SMEs. Business interests of companies are the focus of their activities and services, and the whole structure of Chambers of Commerce is developed from the company s need perspectives: starting from information departments and going to legal consultancies, international cooperation and trainings. The proximity that Chambers of Commerce have to SMEs is fundamental to the operation of an EIC. They know who the SMEs are, their problems, expectations and needs, and can offer adapted services. EICs can also benefit from the database of SME members to contact them in a fast, efficient, and easy way. As a result, Commission related information can be rapidly conveyed to nearly the totality of SMEs in record time, reliable surveys among SMEs can be conducted, and frequent feedback about Community matters affecting SMEs can be given to the Commission. In 2005 the Bulgarian EICs hosted by the Chambers of Commerce organised 111 seminars and other awareness rising events targeted to SMEs which attracted participants, and assisted companies (i.e. assistance, consultancy, Q&A for SMEs). This proximity offers a guarantee of visibility for the Commission towards the companies. The success of the common initiative of DG Enterprise and EUROCHAMBRES study trips of the DG officers in the companies under a pilot project Deepening enterprise experience - is a good example of the Commission taking advantage of chambers proximity to SMEs. Based on a very positive reaction from Chambers members (i.e. SMEs), the DG Enterprise decided to launch a regular project aiming at establishing contacts between EU officers and SMEs. B. FOCUS ON INNOVATION Chambers of commerce welcome the no wrong door concept to facilitate access by SMEs to the different types of services and to ensure coordination and cooperation among all network partners at local level. There is already close collaboration and referral of enquiries between EICs and IRCs, and many EICs hosted by Chambers are engaged in partnerships with IRCs. For instance, Birmingham EIC was involved in the Local Co-operation project, which was the forerunner to b2europe. Birmingham EIC was the lead partner, and other partners in the project included Coventry EIC, the 4

5 Innovation Relay Centre, the Chamber of Commerce for Herefordshire &s Worcestershire, and other Commission networks such as Eures. All together, they developed a website called Signpost West Midlands to act as a signposting mechanism for SMEs in their region. The initiative b2europe is also already in place in many Chambers such as in Cyprus where a formal cooperation agreement was signed between the EIC hosted at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the IRC hosted at the Technology Institute. In Romania, 7 EICs hosted by Chambers of Commerce have signed agreements with Romanian IRCs under the b2europe initiative, thus confirming a long-lasting cooperation in terms of helping SMEs to find the right answers to their needs, of mutual promotion and of signposting the clients to the most appropriate service provider. In the near future, EIC and IRC from Bucharest will jointly organise a brokerage event in Romania for transfer of new technologies for equipments. These kinds of partnerships EIC/IRC and close collaboration should be enhanced. The Commission has recently stipulated that the target enterprises are now the innovative companies with innovation defined as companies engaged in R&D. However, innovation is a much broader concept embracing all kinds of innovative activities undertaken by SMEs in their struggle to be competitive, and improve their services and operations. Innovation in SMEs can mean: - pure R&D, prototype development, etc. in order to bring new products, services or processes on the market; - implementation of new internationalisation strategies in SMEs; - implementation of a new strategy regarding protection of intellectual property rights; - introduction of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the company s organisation (with attention for: fair trade principles, EMAS, eco-labels, environmental technologies, etc.) In this context, Chambers of Commerce and EICs are implementing innovative projects for helping SMEs to exchange know-how and learn about best practices in internationalisation, doing business with certain markets, etc. This is to be considered as an innovative networking concept to assist SMEs in making optimal use of the internal market of the EU as well as the development of business relations with other regions in the world. By enlarging the definition of innovation to this more extensive meaning, many actions and clients of EICs can qualify as innovative. Furthermore, in some countries and regions, Chambers are offering innovation support in the more strict sense without being an IRC. For instance, many Flemish Chambers assist companies with innovation audits and submitting proposals for innovation grants to the Flemish government. The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce has a department that offers advice and assistance to a variety of potential new and young business start-ups that are considered as high growth businesses. Companies are offered one to one consultancy and mentoring, aftercare and access to finance. The Polish Chamber of Commerce runs meetings for SMEs of advanced technology sectors and Chambers in Mazovian Voivodship region organize them into technological forums and circles. In Italy, EICs take advantage of the cooperation with other innovation support services provided by the Chambers: the Innovation Points, the Patent Info Points, and the Testing Laboratories. C. REDUCED ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN THROUGH CONSORTIA OPTION AND MULTI-ANNUAL CONTRACTS Chambers of Commerce fully share the Commission s view on the importance of reducing the administrative burden for all stakeholders and facilitating contractual management. In this regard, we strongly welcome multi-annual contracts. The creation of consortia is another solution to achieve less bureaucracy which should be encouraged but not forced by 5

6 making it a formal criterion. It is indeed important that applications of individual organisations are not put at an unfair disadvantage with respect to the applications of consortia. Moreover, Chambers of Commerce support the flexible approach taken by the Commission regarding the composition of the consortia allowing separate consortia for EIC services only and for IRC services only. Chambers like no other organisations can be a basis for innovative solutions to be applied for the EIC network on larger scale. They are better fit than any other organisations to act as consortia sharing responsibilities and benefits of EIC hosting. Various forms of cooperation are already in place in many countries to enhance the impact of a single EIC hosted by a chamber. For example: An EIC hosted by a Chamber providing information and support to the Chambers in the same region (Italy and Spain); An EIC hosted by the national Chamber providing services to all local Chambers and their members (in small countries such as Cyprus); An EIC hosted in one region but jointly operated by all Chambers in the region. This multiply effect not only supports SMEs in geographic areas with less expertise present, but it also simplifies the administrative burden of the Commission, without loosing the number of access points for SMEs. We therefore urge the Commission to make the consortium a much looser and flexible regime to benefit from the various forms of cooperation already in place in many countries to enhance the impact of a single EIC hosted by a Chamber. The Commission has expressed its intention of reducing its administrative burden through coordinators of consortia. We believe that one innovative solution to be taken into consideration by DG Enterprise and Industry could be the creation of a new status of "administrative coordinator (AC)": an organisation at national, regional, local level would have the only assignment of handling all the administrative tasks of a network of EICs. Hence the EICs will maintain its full role and visibility in relation to DG Enterprise. It is important though that an additional burden of coordination of consortium activities is supported with adequate means. Otherwise such a solution will decrease, not increase efficiency and quality of EIC services. The different tasks (EIC/IRC) could complicate the efficiency and profundity of the offered service. At this time every network is an expert in his subject. D. INCREASED PROFESSIONALISM OF THE NEW NETWORK Effectiveness and quality of the provided services Over the years, EICs have acquired considerable expertise in European affairs and a solid reputation in this field. Nevertheless the efficiency of the EIC network and the quality of the services delivered can be further increased thanks to the expertise and know-how of the host organisations in these fields. Quality is an essential preoccupation of Chambers. Their services are evaluated by their customers (i.e. the companies) on daily basis. Additionally a number of Chambers have a national Chamber accreditation or have implemented the ISO standards and other quality systems. Excellence Awards with regard to their performance and services have been granted to Chambers of Commerce from public law putting them on par with the most efficient and larger businesses. For private law Chambers which have voluntary membership, quality is a precondition of their existence as they need to offer quality to attract members. For instance, in Poland it is the National Service Network - KSU quality assurance system. British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) have established an accreditation process to ensure that Chambers of Commerce offer a range of quality services. Each Chamber that is a member of BCC has to go through an accredited process every three years. A culture of quality and professionalism is continuously promoted throughout the Chamber network. This creates a favourable environment for the EICs to deliver high quality services. 6

7 EICs can also take advantage of the Chamber network effect. In Europe, Chambers of Commerce are united into different associated structures at various levels (national, European, transnational) such as the national Chamber association, EUROCHAMBRES, the Baltic Sea Chambers of Commerce, etc. This network effect amplifies the potential of a single Chamber (including the hosted EIC) through the pooling of resources and created synergies. This potential is then translated into higher quality and efficiency of services. The Polish KIGNET project 1 is a good example of the added value of the networking. In effect in mid 2007, 86 Chambers of Commerce and other business support organisations accredited in the network will be offering 210 newly certified and innovative services for businesses in addition to already identified types of services. Another interesting example is the project Bulgaria European value for the implementation of the Communication Strategy of the Delegation of the European Commission to Bulgaria. The whole Bulgarian Chamber network participated in the programme and organised 116 events all over the country. A real success according to the Delegation of the Commission. Better integration of the EIC within the host structure as a guarantee of success for the network Chambers of Commerce stress the importance to integrate the services offered by the EICs even further with the services of the host structures. Chambers of Commerce and other business organisations already offer a one stop shop for business services and where EICs are hosted by Chambers of Commerce this represents an excellent synergy since the EICs services are fully in line with the Chambers mission. We believe that the quality of the work of the EIC mainly depends on the integration of the EIC into the host structure while, at the same time, maintaining its working relations with the DG Enterprise & Industry, and developing synergies with the EIC network. Furthermore, the services of the host structure should be made available to the SMEs through the EIC, while the EIC services should be actively promoted to the SMEs by the host organisation. Since 20 years, Chambers of commerce have shared their expertise and know-how to enable more efficient EIC functioning and this proved to be a success. In Italy, EICs hosted by Chambers of Commerce launch an average of 270 initiatives and 150 projects per year, and more than 90% of the projects are realised with national and transnational networks. Chambers of Commerce can bring a lot to the EIC network: a culture of quality and professionalism, the network effect to amplify the potential of a single EIC, and a truly integration of the services offered by the EIC with the Chamber s services. E. GUIDELINES FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSALS Chambers of Commerce call into question the use of external evaluators to assess the proposals, and warns the Commission against the difficulty of the external evaluators to judge the quality of the proposals. We therefore ask the Commission to include Commission officials who understand the EIC/IRC networks in the evaluation process. We also urge the Commission to validate the evaluation criteria before the launch of the call for proposals. The assessment of the proposals requires an appropriate use of evaluation criteria. We believe that the following criteria should be considered as supporting the quality and impact of EIC services: Proximity to the SMEs; Experience in hosting EICs and related performance. Naturally the call should be open to organisations that want to act as hosts for the first time, but consideration should also be given to existing hosts that wish to re-bid and who have a proven track record of running a good EIC; otherwise the Commission risks losing a lot of existing knowledge and experience. Range and number of services for SMEs; 1 KIGNET the chamber-based system of support for competitiveness of Polish companies financed with the Structural Funds, and involving at present 50 Chambers and some other Business Support Organisations. 7

8 Mechanisms of finding out the problems of SMEs Networking capacity Internationalisation capacity Use of ICT / possession of satisfactory ICT infrastructure Maintenance of a registry of SMEs Wide coverage / representation of SMEs in the region / country Representation at national level contact with relevant authorities Over the years, the EIC network has acquired considerable expertise and a solid reputation as an efficient and reliable business support network on EU issues. EICs are a vital common reference point for businesses and play a crucial role in facilitating SME participation in Community programmes. Chambers of Commerce complement this role well as providing services to SMEs is their regular activity. Hosting an EIC is a natural consequence of Chambers functioning within the European Single Market area. It adds to the quality of the Chamber s offer while at the same time adding to sustainability of an EIC through the Chamber / companies regular relations. Chambers of Commerce like no other organisations can be a basis for innovative solutions to be applied to the EIC network on a larger scale. They can share their expertise and customer base to enable more efficient EIC functioning. It is therefore important to ensure continuity, but also to capitalize on success. 8

9 * * * This position paper has been produced by EUROCHAMBRES; the Brussels based Association of European Chambers of Commerce of Commerce of Commerce and Industry. EUROCHAMBRES is the sole European body that serves the interests of every sector and every size of European business and the only one so close to business. EUROCHAMBRES has member organisations in 44 countries representing a network of 2,000 regional and local Chambers of Commerce of Commerce with over 19 million member companies. Chamber members employ over 120 million employees. For further information about the position paper: Typhaine Beaupérin beauperin@eurochambres.eu Direct tel.: Fax: For more information about EUROCHAMBRES: EUROCHAMBRES CHAMBER HOUSE, AVENUE DES ARTS 19 A/D BRUSSELS, BELGIUM TEL FAX eurochambres@eurochambres.eu 9