Competing in the Single Market - SMEs and ... - Erhvervsstyrelsen

• Linking Structural Funds with national innovation policies in an efficient and effective matterAfter accession, the Structural Funds will be one of the principal policy tools for stimulating SMEs,both in terms of funds and in terms of administration. The SME development agencies, in particularPAED, SMEDA, LDA and Enterprise Estonia, expect that the implementation and administration ofthe Structural Funds will become one of their principal activities following accession (if it isn’t alreadytoday). One of the principal challenges in this context will be to ensure that the Structural Funds canbe linked with national innovation policies and strategies so as to ensure that Structural Funds willprovide complementarity and value-added. An example of how Sweden has used national funding topromote innovation is presented in Box 15 below.Box 15: VINNVÄXT - Regional Growth through Development of Dynamic InnovationSystemsVINNOVA’s mission is to promote sustainable growth by financing R&D and developingeffective innovation systems. VINNOVA’s efforts to create effective innovation systems haveinternational, national, sectoral and regional perspectives.VINNVÄXT is a programme based on the idea of regional growth through dynamic innovationsystems. The purpose of this programme is to stimulate the sustainable development andinternational competitiveness in functional regions through the long-term promotion andstrengthening of the innovation system (including R&D funding) within selected strategicareas. Thus, the programme seeks to concentrate efforts and actors within a region arounda strategic idea. Regions and initiatives to be included in this programme are selected in anational competition according to quality of the proposal, growth potential, and the abilityto mobilize regional efforts and to secure regional co-financing, among other things. Thewinning teams receive up to 10 million SEK (approx. 1.1 million €) per year for 10 years fromVINNOVA, plus matching regional co-funding.VINNVÄXT differs significantly from earlier regional development initiatives in Swedenwith its long-term perspective, its process support and the fact that the programme selectionprocedure is competitive.Following the general positive reactions to VINNVÄXT, VINNOVA has increased its totalbudget of the programme from initially 400 to 600 MSEK for the ten-year period. This sumis matched by regional co-funding of at least the same amount.88