Funding programme

The Single Market Programme (SMP) covers the single market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics.

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Call overview

This call aims to strengthen the digital transition and capabilities of SMEs in the social economy.

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Call detail

The primary objectives of this call for proposals are:

First, strengthening the digital transition and capabilities of SMEs in the social economy through capacity building activities, knowledge transfer and transnational cooperation, and consequently foster their economic, organisational and impact related performances.

Second objective is to strengthen the digital capacity of ‘enabling organisations’ in the social economy. Those are organisations representing, federating or supporting SME’s in the social economy and are operating at local, regional, national or EU level. In doing so, those organisations can multiply the effects of this call and support their members, clients and stakeholders in their digital transition as well as driving digital social innovations. Consequently, those organisations can take up an enabling role adapted to the sectoral, local or organisational context and consequent digital needs.

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Activities funded

As a crucial element, linked to the primary objectives of this call for proposal applicants have to (i) identify and map the main digital needs and opportunities of the identified target group (related to identified challenges, opportunities and innovation potentials) and (ii) directly support SMEs in the social economy as well as their enabling organisations, by setting up capacity building activities addressing those needs.

To address the secondary objectives of this call for proposals, applicants can propose additional activities to support the use and uptake of digital social innovation.

Local capacity building activities must be at the centre of the proposal. Consequently, the majority of activities and resources of the proposal must focus on capacity building for (i) SMEs in the social economy and their (ii) enabling organisations.

Transnational activities within the consortia are to be organised in support of theselocal actions and activities and must promote learning effects between the partners of the consortia (e.g. peer learning, train the trainer). Applicants are therefore motivated to develop consortia composed of organisations with different degrees of maturity and consequently to facilitate knowledge transfer from front-runners to organisations that are less advanced. Transnational activities can thus be developed to support the mapping exercises, jointly develop the capacity building packages or design joint Digital Social Innovation (DSI) trajectories.

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Eligibility

In order to be eligible for funding, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:  

• be legal entities (public or private bodies)  
• be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e. EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)) or non-EU countries: countries associated to the Single Market Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature; and Ukraine (territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine at submission deadline), in accordance with conditions laid down in Article9(3)(a) of the Single Market Programme Regulation, as stipulated in the Eligibility criteria section of Annex 2 to the 2023 SMP Work Programme.
• be social economy ‘enabling organisation’10 (intermediary); the organisation can be operational at national, regional or local level or
• be support organisations active at EU level11 representing social economy entities (such as sectorial member federations and associations or networks).

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Consortium composition

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities), which complies with all following conditions:

− at least six independent entities from at least three different eligible countries;

− at least one social economy ‘enabling organisation’15 (intermediary) per participating country involved in the consortium; the organisation can be operational at national, regional or local level;

− a minimum one and a maximum two support organisations active at EU level representing social economy entities (such as sectorial member federations and associations or networks).

The eligibility requirement of at least one social economy ‘enabling organisation’ (intermediary) per participating country involved in the consortium (second bullet point above) does not apply to EU level support organisations. This means that the country(-ies) of registration of participating EU level support organisations do not count for the purpose of fulfilling the eligibility requirement of the second bullet point.

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Budget

Project budgets (maximum grant amount) are expected to range between EUR 900 000 and EUR 1 300 000 per project.

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Project duration

Projects should normally range between 24 and 36 months (extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment).

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