The following topics have been discussed:  the origines and the histiry of the European Investment Fund, its unique approaches towards supporting the EU econony , the solutions for the businesses the impact of the EIF's actions on the economy and on SMEs operating in the economy.

According to the official website, EIF are a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across Europe. Being part of the EIB Group, the EIF's shareholders are the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and a wide range of public and private banks and financial institutions.

By developing and offering targeted financial products to our intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, micro-credit providers and private equity funds, EIF enhance SMEs access to finance. By taking SME risk, EIF pursues our two main statutory objectives:

• fostering EU objectives, notably in the field of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, employment and regional development;

• generating an appropriate return for our shareholders, through a commercial pricing policy and a balance of fee and risk based income.

EIF in its almost 30 years history helped over 2 million small businesses with access to finance. During these years, the EIF’s role has always been to identify and pro-actively tackle market gaps, and to pursue EU policy priorities.

The European Commission as the executive body of the European Union plays a significant role in the proposal, coordination and monitoring of labour regulations and policies. A number of labour authorities and institutes have been established by the European Union, one of which is the European Labour Authority (ELA). Established in 2019, it seeks to “ensures that EU rules on labour mobility and social security coordination are enforced in a fair and effective way and makes it easier for citizens and business to reap the benefits of the internal market”. ELA aims to promote fair mobility of workers, resolving cross-border labour disputes as well as strengthening the cooperation of labour authorities on a national level. To fulfil its objectives ELA carries out a range of tasks, like facilitating access to information and the coordination of European Employment Services (EURES), facilitating the cooperation and the exchange of information between EU member states as well as carrying out analyses and risk assessment on issues of cross-border labour mobility. In addition, ELA supports member states with its capacity building and mediates disputes between them. (Guest lecture) Two key focus areas of ELA include undeclared work as well as posted workers

To facilitate the free movement of workers, the European Employment Services (EURES) provides guidance, services and information to employers and jobseekers. The EURES coordination office is managed by ELA since 2021. It represents a cooperation network between employment services in all EU/EEA countries, including Switzerland, the European Labour Authority and the European Commission. The network provides 3.9 million vacancies and 1 million CVs, an online job mobility portal as well as more than 1,000 EURES Advisers. EURES’s main targets are the improvement of transparency and information on job opportunities and conditions of living and working across borders, providing assistance for job placements and recruiting as well as facilitating the cooperation between member organizations and stakeholders.

EEN is a support network, launched by the European Commission, that aims at encouraging SME’s in their international business activities, enhancing innovation and growth. EEN helps SME by offering free of charge services in regard to international partnerships and providing advisory and innovation support. Currently, there are 3000 experts in over 60 countries worldwide active in the network.

Enterprise Europe Network is an organization that aims to help ambitious small and medium enterprises to innovate and grow beyond borders. This kind of organization is especially important, given the fact that SMEs play a vital role in the EU’s industrial ecosystem. However, SMEs are nowadays facing many problems on their way to success. Some of these problems lie in the Single Market that is not optimal, regulatory obstacles, lack of necessary skills, payment delays, and difficulties to access funding. In order to overcome these problems, the EU came up with the SME Strategy that focuses on the three pillars: Digitalization and Sustainability, Access to Finance, and Cutting Red Tape and Tapping into Markets. Guided by these three pillars, the Enterprise Europe Network is offering SMEs its support and assisting them on their path of growth. To be more precise, EEN makes sure to help companies enter new markets with their innovative ideas by utilizing its business expertise and combining it with the local know-how. The exact way EEN fulfills this goal is through international partnerships, advisory support, and innovation support. For instance, it organizes matchmaking events, where SMEs have the opportunity to encounter potential business partners, it offers advice on doing business in another country, and it helps companies to apply for funding. Thanks to EEN, many companies are being able to profit from useful partnerships, business connections and growth opportunities.

The presentation covered various issues, including the trade policy of the European Union, the Competition policy, and generally the geopolitical developments across the globe. 

This presentation made it clear that especially in the banking sector many regulations and rules apply to strengthen the market (internationally) and to create security for all parties involved (especially since 2008), but that these can also sometimes restrict the work of the bank. Especially in times of crisis, providing funding is very important to get out of it and drive change. It was very interesting to get the behind-the-scenes look and hear about such a range of experiences. In keeping with the whole course, it again highlighted the influence of the EU, but on the other hand, the influence of one particular sector on the EU. 

European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG AEC) belongs to the executive branch of the EU, being responsible for policy making in the areas of education and training, culture and media, youth, and sport. An example for a flagship program that is supported here is the well-known Erasmus+ programme, which has the objective to encourage learning mobility, professional and personal development of individuals and groups and to promote cooperation.

Oveerall, the role of education is of vital importance for the economy and society. On one hand, education serves as means for economic growth, and on the other, it significantly contributes to the creation of mutual values, citizenship, and identity. However, education within the EU is currently facing many problems. One of them is that education is not inclusive and effective, that many member states are reporting underachievement of students in reading, maths, and science and that many schools are facing difficulties when it comes to the integration of migrants. Furthermore, there is a shared understanding among the authorities that we have a problem in digital education. In order to overcome these obstacles and find new ways to improve the education system, the EC issued a new policy initiative in the field of Education in September 2020. This policy gained a lot of attention, as it stressed the need for inclusion, green and digital education, and a better-quality education. 

Indeed, education has the power to spread awareness with regard to the importance that digitalization and greening of Europe will have in the future, but schools are still not doing enough in this regard. What is needed, is the initiative to equip students with the necessary skill in order for them to be prepared for new professions and fields that will emerge in the time ahead of us. Life-long learning, both for teachers and students, upskilling and reskilling shall be given utmost importance in order to ensure that people can be competitive in the market. Education holds so much responsibility for the future and its impact on the economy and society should by no means be underestimated.

BusinessEurope is the leading advocate for the interests of the European business in European institutions and in the international arena. The organisation is headquartered in Brussels. It represents all-sized enterprises in 35 European countries whose national business federations are its direct members and promotes as a lobby group the interests of companies of various sizes and sectors, making sure that the European economy is favored by public policy, ensuring its global competitiveness. 40 member federations from 34 countries participate in this organization, for example the Federation of Austrian Industries, as well as a number of advisory and support groups, such as Volkswagen.

Feedback from a participant:

Mr. Sennekamp gave us a very interesting overview of the organization’s priorities and core policy topics, such as those concerning the single market, energy and climate issues, traderelated topics or research and innovation. He also gave as an example for one specific project field, regarding the circular economy approach, which I found especially interesting. Circular economy is a model which aims to extent the product life cycle by minimizing waste, recycling, redesigning products and enhancing symbiotic cooperation between companies. BusinessEurope launched a platform which serves as a knowledge and expertise hub, showing examples for innovative projects in this field and raising awareness for challenges companies are facing.

According to the presentation, since its establishment in 1958, the EIB has invested over a trillion euros on the following priority areas: climate and environment, cohesion, innovation, digital and human capital, small and medium-sized businesses, sustainable cities and regions, and sustainable energy and natural resources.

The EIB works closely with other EU institutions to foster European integration, promote the development of the EU and support EU policies in over 160 countries around the world. Through EIB Global, set up in 2022 to increase the impact of our development finance, we help address global challenges and create growth and opportunity in all continents.