Enterprise and Industry Lisbeth BAHL POULSEN SMEs Clusters

Enterprise and Industry Lisbeth BAHL POULSEN SMEs: Clusters and Emerging Industries Unit Public Consultation on Green Action Plan for SMEs: Results SME Envoy Network Munich, 11. 03. 2014

Public Consultation: Aim & Use Aim: Collect stakeholders' views on most effective support measures & actors to help SMEs become more resource efficient & to help them sell green products and services internationally Use: Shape actions of the Green Action Plan for SMEs promoting resource efficiency for and by SMEs Open 20 September – 12 December 2013

Public Consultation: Areas covered 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Profile of Respondents Support Services for Greening SMEs Access to Finance Supporting SMEs in a Greener Value Chain New Business Opportunities in a Greener Economy

Profile of Respondents 175 respondents, predominantly business interests & SMEs Other includes research institutes, trade unions, NGOs –notably from environmental sector, business support agencies, organisations and consultancies

Profile of Respondents 175 respondents from across the European Union BE includes a number of European organisations

Support Services for Greening SMEs Most effective services: • Technology & knowledge transfer (57, 15%) • Resource Efficiency consultancy (55, 43%) • Awareness raising (53, 71%) Most commonly offered services: • Awareness raising (60%) • Advice on funding & preparation of proposals (45, 14%) • Technology a knowledge transfer (43, 43%)

Support Services for Greening SMEs Role of Enterprise Europe Network Most effective services to promote Resource Efficiency: • Specific matchmaking events on green technologies (71, 3%) • RE and eco-innovation as cross-cutting themes for B 2 B & C 2 C matchmaking (70, 38%) • Strategic collaboration between EEN and other key partners (70, 38%) • Improved classification of RE technologies in EEN d-base for better partner search services (67, 65% of business organisations)

Access to finance Assessing investment costs of Resource Efficiency actions: • Never thought of it (35, 43%) • Too complicated (30, 29%) • Done it on my own (21, 14%) • Done it with help of expert (8, 57%)

Access to Finance Flash Eurobarometer 2013* – SME responses Impact of Resource Efficiency actions: • Decrease in production costs (42%) • Increase in production costs (21%) • No impact on production costs (25%) Most RE actions are low cost: Over last 2 years, 72% of SMEs have invested less than 5% of annual turn-over in RE Public consultation results confirm these trends * "SMEs, resource efficiency and green markets"

Access to Finance Barriers to finance for Resource Efficiency actions: • RE investments take too long to become financially viable (72%) • Financial return is not high enough (65, 85%) • Finance providers lack sufficient understanding of RE investments (78, 26% of business organisations) Findings contradict Flash Eurobarometer 2013: • 68% satisfied with return on RE investment, 12% 'very satisfied'

Supporting SMEs in a Greener Value Chain Most important areas for Resource Efficiency actions: • Waste management (89, 15%) • Production operations (86, 86%) • Recycling (86, 28%) Most important drivers of Ressource Efficiency actions: • Large companies (90, 86%) • SMEs (88, 57%) • Third party intermediaries (70, 28%), notably technological centres

New Business Opportunities in a Greener Economy Facilitating access to markets for green products & services: • Environmental labels & certification are important, but keep it simple for consumers (74, 86%) • Local/regional strategies are effective to promote local creation & businesses (72, 86%) Other ways for business to show green commitments: • Life cycle management, eco-design, environmental footprint, extended producer responsibility (EPR), EU Environmental Technology Verification (ETV), etc.

New Business Opportunities in a Circular Economy Everyone supports the circular economy concept! • Support knowledge sharing & cooperation between SMEs on 'circular' business models, e. g. product-service systems, cradle-to-cradle and take-back systems • Promote resource optimisation across value chains such as repair cycles, recycling & 'upcycling' of waste into new materials or products • Beware of high costs of recycling of some products and need to review classification of certain waste types as reusable products

New Business Opportunities in a Global Economy Most effective support for access to global markets: • Pre-market entry assistance (84%) • Business cooperation and networking (83, 43%) • Identifying potential foreign business partners (82, 29%) • Easing access to local finance (79, 43%) Least effective support: • Online information portals for SMEs (34, 29%) • Temporary offices in target markets (28, 57%) • Exhibiting a international trade fairs (28%)

More information • Report on Results of the Public Consultation: http: //ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/publicconsultation-green-action-plan/index_en. htm#h 2 -9 • Flash Eurobarometer 2013: http: //ec. europa. eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_342_en. pdf