E4BUSINESS

What is Europe for Business?
Europe for Business is an EU policy and European business development consultancy: it acts as a practical and user-friendly interface to translate the theory of EU policy into practical benefits for clients in Europe and in countries applying for EU membership.

OUR AIM:
w To bring to clients direct benefits from EU policies

OUR MISSION:
w To create commercial and professional opportunities
w To help clients assess and exploit the effect of EU policies
w To make it easier and more profitable for clients to do business in Europe and the applicant states

CLIENTS:
Clients have been located in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, Malta, the Czech Republic, the US and Australia. They include:
w Private companies, ranging in size from multinationals to small businesses, and including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, utilities and professional advisers e.g. Ben and Jerry's (US), Carlton & United Breweries (Australia), GET plc (UK), Early Years Childcare plc (UK)
w Local government e.g. Brighton and Hove Council (UK)
w Central government e.g. Civil Service College (UK)
w Business support agencies and trade associations e.g. Sussex Enterprise (UK), Enterprise Ireland (UK office)
w Educational institutions e.g. University of North London (UK), Technical University of Rouen (France)
w Charities and voluntary organisations

SPECIFIC SERVICES:
Eligibility assessment for EU grants and help to prepare funding proposals

Tracking, monitoring, analysis, impact assessment and early warning of EU policies and legislation

Identification and development of key strategic contacts in Europe

Strategy planning and development

Market research Europe-wide

Training for effective communication in unfamiliar business cultures

PERSONNEL:
Europe for Business has been active since 1978, when it was founded in Hove (UK) by Lindsay Wittenberg. In May 2004, Fabrizio De Francesco and Leonardo Piccinetti moved Europe for Business to Brussels. They have a 5 years experience in consulting activities in European public policies. They has been monitoring, analysing and interpreting EU policy and law in order to create development opportunities for professional and commercial clients. This has included engaging with officials of the EU institutions for the purposes both of gaining an inside track to policy developments and of influencing those developments.

How EU Funding works

Substantial finance is available through hundreds of different schemes funded by the European Union, offering potential benefits to organisations both within the EU and outside it. The underlying purpose of European funding is to encourage organisations into growth-related activities or to benefit regions or population groups which have particular challenges to overcome: in this way there will be a benefit to the overall development of the European economy, which is why many funding schemes require transnational cooperation.

Many different types of organisation can benefit from EU funding, from enterprises employing only two people to large multinational organisations, from the public sector through charities, educational institutions and research organisations to private organisations, and from Member States of the European Union to countries in the Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Funding is available under many different headings, including:

• Training and re-training
• Education
• Small- and medium-sized enterprises
• Research and development
• Information technology
• Environment
• Sectoral aid for both declining and developing industries
• Regional aid
• Language-learning
• Joint ventures
• Culture
• Media
• Developing countries

Europe for Business adopts a broadly-based approach to identifying funding opportunities: we use a thorough understanding of clients' activities and objectives which we match with the criteria for funding programmes, often identifying angles and possibilities which may not be immediately apparent to the untrained eye. Clients can purchase the following services:

• Project analysis in the light of available EU funding
• Identification of appropriate EU funding programmes and assessment of eligibility for these programmes
• Strategy recommendations
• Information on funding programmes, including criteria, application process, conditions of eligibility, levels of funding available, timescales and administrating agencies
• Identification of partners in other countries where these are a condition for funding application
• Support for the preparation of funding submissions
• Tracking of submissions through the selection process
• Monitoring to identify funding opportunities on an ongoing basis.

To register for further information , or to receive answers to your questions on European rules and opportunities, contact us at Europe for Business

For more details, contact us at Europe for Business

All material © Europe for Business 2006