SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2020

Annex B. Organisation profiles

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Eurasia Competitiveness Programme

The OECD is a unique forum where governments work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union takes part in the work of the OECD.

The OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme, launched in 2008, helps accelerate economic reforms and improve the business climate to achieve sustainable economic growth and employment in two regions: Eastern Europe and South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), and Central Asia (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).

The programme works to improve the business climate through a comprehensive approach to evaluate policy, define priorities and support capacity building and implementation of reform. It achieves impact by helping countries align to OECD standards, such as the “OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises”. It helps foster the implementation of OECD tools and instruments, such as the “Policy Framework for Investment” and supports countries in the Eurasia region in conducting OECD flagship reviews in collaboration with respective committees. OECD experts work closely with public authorities, the private sector and civil society to design and implement tools and instruments that lead to policy reforms and improve the business climate.

European Commission, DG NEAR and DG GROW

The Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) aims to promote the EU's neighbourhood and enlargement policies, as well as to coordinate the relations with EEA-EFTA countries insofar as Commission policies are concerned. DG NEAR works closely with the European External Action Service and the line DGs in charge of thematic priorities. It is responsible for:

• Supporting reform and democratic consolidation, and strengthening the prosperity, stability and security around Europe, by implementing assistance actions in Europe's eastern and southern neighbourhood;

• Assisting those countries with a perspective to join the EU in meeting the criteria defined by the Treaty of European Union and the European Council and managing the bilateral relations of the Union with candidate and potential candidate countries on their path to the EU, frontloading reforms on rule of law, economic governance and public administration reform;

• Managing the bulk of the Union’s financial and technical assistance to the neighbourhood and enlargement countries.

The Directorate-General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs is the European Commission service responsible for:

• Completing the internal market for goods and services,

• Helping turn the EU into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy by implementing the industrial and sectorial policies of the flagship Europe 2020 initiative;

• Fostering entrepreneurship and growth by reducing the administrative burden on small businesses, facilitating access to funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and supporting access to global markets for EU companies (all of these actions are encapsulated in the Small Business Act);

• Generating policy on the protection and enforcement of industrial property rights, co-ordinating the EU position and negotiations in the IPR system, and assisting innovators in learning how to use IPR effectively;

• Delivering the EU's space policy via the two large-scale programmes, Copernicus (European Earth observation satellite system) and Galileo (European global navigation satellite system), as well as research actions to spur technological innovation and economic growth.

The SBA assessment project is implemented within the EU4Business Initiative. EU4Business is an umbrella initiative that covers all EU support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region of the Eastern Partnership which brings together the EU, its member states and six partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It breaks down barriers SMEs face in their progress, such as limited access to finance, burdensome legislation and difficulties entering new markets, with finance, support and training, to help them realise their full potential. EU4Business support is delivered together with other organisations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank.

European Training Foundation

The European Training Foundation (ETF) helps transition and developing countries harness the potential of their human capital through the reform of education, training, and labour market systems, in the context of EU external relations policies.

The ETF supports 29 countries bordering the EU to improve their vocational education and training systems, analyse skills needs, and develop their labour markets. By doing so, the ETF helps them to improve social cohesion and achieve more sustainable economic growth, which in turn benefits Member States and their citizens by improving economic relations.

The ETF collaborates on a country-specific as well as multi-country basis, building frameworks for continuity in policy and promoting the design of evidence-based policy and implementation. It frequently operates in uncertain and, at times, unstable contexts. Yet it is one of the few agencies called on by successive governments with changing policy priorities, because of its reputation for independent, high-quality work and positive engagement.

The ETF’s activities with partner countries cover a range of related areas:

• Skills and employment needs analysis,

• System governance, including stakeholder engagement,

• Social dialogue and private sector participation,

• Qualification systems and quality assurance,

• Work-based learning,

• Teacher training,

• Entrepreneurial learning and core competences, and

• Career guidance.

The European Training Foundation was established by Council Regulation No. 1360 in 1990, recast as No. 1339 in 2008. The recast regulation specifies the ETF’s role in contributing to human capital development in the context of EU external relations policies. In this context, human capital development is defined as work that supports countries to create lifelong learning systems providing opportunities and incentives for people to develop their knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes throughout their lives to help them find employment, realise their potential and contribute to prosperous, innovative and inclusive societies.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The EBRD is an international financial institution that supports projects in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and, since September 2012, the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. Investing primarily in private sector clients whose needs cannot be fully met by the market, the bank fosters the transition towards open and democratic market economies. In all its operations the EBRD follows the highest standards of corporate governance and sustainable development. Owned by 64 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, the EBRD maintains a close political dialogue with governments, authorities and representatives of civil society to promote its goals.