The Work Programme reflects on the achievements of the past four years, outlines the Commission's new proposals for the months ahead and presents significant initiatives aimed at cutting red tape. Reducing administrative burden is crucial to maintaining the competitiveness of European businesses. That’s why the Commission will rationalise and streamline such requirements, which have a disproportionate impact on businesses, including SMEs and micro-companies, and administrations.

The Commission’s flagship event dedicated to EU industry was held in Málaga, Spain and gathered approximately 1,200 participants both on site and online, including more than 200 speakers. Discussions took place over 3 days and featured industrial leaders, policymakers, SME representatives, start-uppers, researchers, and civil society representatives. The event offered an opportunity for participants to meet with both EU and local experts to discover funding and business advisory programmes and visit an exhibition with 16 EU-funded projects. In addition, the EU Industry Days provided a platform for stakeholders to share their views with EU policymakers. A report of the event with key takeaways from all 40 sessions is available here, and it is also possible to watch the recordings of all the sessions on GROW’s Youtube channel.

During the High-Level Intellectual Property (IP) Conference organised by the Spanish Presidency in Madrid on 11-12 September , Maive Rute, GROW Deputy Director-General, talked about GROW's IP initiatives: Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and the benefits that the new scheme for geographical indications for crafts and industrial products (CIGIs) will bring.

IPCEIs are a key industrial tool to support breakthrough innovations or large-scale infrastructure projects in critical sectors and technologies for the EU. The new forum will be a partnership with Member States to identify areas of strategic EU interest for future IPCEIs and to increase their effectiveness.

On 19 September, the Commission launched a new online platform as part of its efforts to reduce administrative burden and facilitate Member States’ compliance with their notification obligations under EU law. The new Single Notification Window offers a single-entry point to a broad range of notification obligations relevant to the Single Market, without amending the existing notification procedures themselves.

On 27 September, GROW organised the European Regulators Group for Postal Services (ERGP) Stakeholders Forum 2023 and welcomed around 150 representatives of key postal stakeholders to discuss some of the key issues the sector is currently facing.

On 25 September, the Commission took another major step to protect the environment by adopting measures that restrict microplastics intentionally added to products. The new rules will prevent the release to the environment of about half a million tonnes of microplastics. They will prohibit the sale of microplastics as such, and of products to which microplastics have been added on purpose and that release those microplastics when used. When duly justified, derogations and transition periods for the affected parties to adjust to the new rules apply.

Europeans produce a staggering 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste per year. Most is burned, dumped in landfills or exported. Fibre-to-fibre recycling is an alternative option that a new European Commission scheme will push companies to take. The latest Business Planet episode investigates this further.

The 2023 European Angel Investment Summit allowed 35 start-ups to pitch to investors and enabled over 100 one-to-one meetings between companies, investors and policy makers. During the summit, the European Business Angel Network signed a Memorandum of Understanding with United Nations Women to promote female angel investing.

As a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the majority of Export credit agencies in the EU suspended their risk coverage for Ukraine, negatively impacting the ability of EU companies to export to Ukraine. The Commission is working with the European Investment Fund (EIF) to set up a new pilot facility under the InvestEU SME window of roughly €300 million to allow Export Credit Agencies to resume their business with regard to Ukraine. The pilot facility is expected to improve the competitiveness of European SMEs by establishing stronger ties with Ukraine and supporting EU exports.

A new report published by the European Women in Venture Capital confirms that gender-diverse companies generate better financial results, more innovation and more successful start-ups. Women-led firms have also higher environmental, social, and governance scores compared to other companies. It highlights also that venture capital firms with 10% points higher representation of women in senior management show higher internal rate of return.  Nonetheless, women in venture capital continue to struggle when raising funds. The Commission's goal is that at least 25% of equity intermediaries supported by InvestEU via the EIF should be gender diverse.

The European Union, in collaboration with EU Member States, seeks to obtain a better overview of European companies operating or interested in operating in different international markets. The collected anonymous replies will be used to frame the agenda of EU Business Forums, trade negotiations and policy dialogues. They will also help to better target the discussions to the concrete areas that can attract more European investments in a given (third) country. Have a look at the ongoing consultations taking place in Angola (here), Ghana (here), Laos (here), Malawi (here), Mozambique (here), Nepal (here), Pakistan (here), Zimbabwe (here) and Papua New Guinea (here).

The Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) recently published the ICC City Performance Report: EU Cities Championing the Green and Digital Transition. This report details the vision, methodology, achievements, challenges and opportunities for cities across Europe and beyond over the period of the programme. Some of the key highlights include supporting 42 cities to make significant strides toward launching their own Local Green Deals, leveraging €247 million in public funding from EU, national and regional sources and multiple concrete solutions under five thematic tracks to boost 136 cities in improving economic competitiveness, social resilience, and citizens’ quality of life.

The Single Market Tour, one of the main activities of the campaign celebrating the 30^th Anniversary of the Single Market, is travelling across Europe. The next stops of the Single Market Tour will be in France. This will be followed by several other countries in 2024. Discover here the programme and the picture galleries for Trieste - Italy; Szeged – Hungary; Timisoara – Romania; Brasov - Romania; Plovdiv and Sofia - Bulgaria; Malaga, Spain; Evora, Santarem and Castelo Branco, Portugal.

The 2^nd edition of the event dedicated to venture capital of the European Investment Fund for Women Fund Managers and mixed venture capital teams will take place on 7 and 8 November in Luxembourg. InvestEU, the EU’s flagship investment programme, among its other objectives, aims to support investment teams that have a strong representation of women in management positions. GROW's Director-General, Kerstin Jorna, will address the participants. Registrations are open!

The EU FINANCE DAYS are organised by the European Commission and implementing partners to present new financial and support programmes such as InvestEU, the Single Market Programme and the European Innovation Council to businesses and relevant stakeholders. Join us in person or online at the next EU FINANCE DAYS in Prague. Registrations are open!

The European SME Week will be held from 13 to 17 November in Bilbao, in cooperation with the Spanish Presidency of the Council, the Basque Government and the Enterprise Europe Network. The week will feature several events highlighting the importance of SMEs for Europe’s economy. The two biggest events in the week are the SME Assembly and the Annual Conference of the Enterprise Europe Network.

The European Small and Mid-Cap Awards aim to promote best practices and encourage more SMEs to access capital markets via public listing on stock markets. The winners of each of the four categories will be revealed during a ceremony which will take place next 14 November 2023 as part of SME Assembly 2023 in Bilbao, Spain. Registrations are open!

The Raw Materials Week is an annual event organised by the European Commission. It gathers a wide range of stakeholders discussing policies and initiatives in the field of raw material, providing an overview of ongoing EU activities in this sector. This year, the event will centre around the European Critical Raw Materials Act and include the 10^th annual High-Level Conference of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on raw materials, co-organised with Eumicon, on 15 November. Registrations are open!

GROW's Chief Economist team is organising a high-level policy panel during this year's edition of the Annual Research Conference in Brussels. How can we maximise the leverage effect of the Single Market to improve our productivity growth and economic performance? What institutional designs foster the structural transformation of the EU economy to ensure long-term sustainable competitiveness and increase our economic resilience? Registrations are open!

Since its launch in 2008, the Internal Market Information (IMI) system has transformed cross-border communication and cooperation between public administrations. This digital tool has reduced administrative burden for citizens and businesses, streamlined single market rules’ application and paved the way for digital transformation. On 30 November in Brussels, a high-level conference will bring together representatives of the Commission, Member States and stakeholders from across Europe to celebrate the achievements and the people behind the IMI. What is the role of the digital cooperation of public authorities in the EU digital agenda? What are the success stories? How to boost IMI’s potential to support the deepening of the single market? These and many more questions will be addressed by eminent speakers taking part in the panel discussions. Come celebrate with us, the event will be web streamed!

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