The LHoFT - Luxembourg House of Financial Technology’s Post

💸 Maximising the use of #EUfunds and initiatives is essential for EU regions to fully achieve the competitive, green, and digital transitions. 🚀 Today marked the launch of our new #TSI project, “𝘌𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘜 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴,” a project that will offer support to the regions of Brussels-Capital Region, Silesia, Thuringia, and Wallonia. 🤓 This event provided valuable insights into the unique needs and challenges facing each of these four EU regions, and how the project will help them improve their access to and use of EU initiatives and funds. Strengthening their knowledge of available opportunities and ensuring the right institutional frameworks are in place to optimise their participation in EU networks and consortia are among the key goals of this project. 🙏🏻 A big thank you to the regions for their excellent presentations today, to the observer countries for their interventions, and to DG REFORM for their continued trust and collaboration. Now, let's get down to business! The project is funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co-operation with the European Commission.

I frequently wonder why more SMEs are not availing of EU funding for innovation and research projects. An interesting report which highlights (from an Irish perspective): 1. A total of 179 SME participants in Horizon Europe Projects, average funding €638,000 per project. [note we have 279,000 SMEs in IE so lets not get ahead of ourselves]. 2. The success rate for IE applications is 19.9%. What can we learn from our Belgian friends (24%)? 3. Tech-Intense projects in the main, concentrated in digital, deep-tech, green. 4. SMEs rarely leading projects. 5. 87% of SMEs are partners in research consortia. 6. 40% Co-Funding from SMEs expected. Whilst welcome to note that there is increased funding in Horizon Europe, across various pillars, a few fundamental questions must be asked. 1. How can we understand what 'good looks like' so that there can be an increased success rate for applicants? 2. How can the barriers to (successful) entry be adjusted to increase participation, lower complexity and costs for SMEs - particularly beyond the tech sector? 3. How can SMEs lead such endeavours?

The CSRD will impact many US companies over the next two years and A4S is working with CFOs and their finance teams to help them prepare. The webinar below from EFRAG will also provide some useful insights for non-US groups.

CSRD: Companies operating on the EU market from outside the EU are also required to publish a sustainability report to realise a level playing field. If you want to know more sign up for this webinar organised by #EFRAG now! EFRAG #CSRD

For those of you working for #nonEU companies affected by #CSRD join the EFRAG webinars for relevant information on #ESRS sustainability reporting.

📊 The Data Corner: Member State investment in Horizon Europe's public-private partnerships has reached a remarkable level, with Spain emerging as the largest contributor, according to new data. Commitments have increased significantly to €15 billion - five times higher than contributions to Horizon 2020 - highlighting a strong push for collaborative research and innovation across the EU, with a few exceptions including Romania, Slovakia, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. This report provides an in-depth look at how Member States are prioritising different research areas, and presents the evolving dynamics of EU partnerships. 🔎 More: https://lnkd.in/ejXDTktv

➡️THIS WEEK, the Permanent Delegation of the Junta de Castilla y León will be at... 🤝DCRN- Partners' meeting (24 April 2024): the Delegación de la Junta de Castilla y León ante la Unión Europea is organizing and chairing the next meeting of the Demographic Change Regions' Network (#DCRN). The meeting will count with the participation and presence of the Belgian Presidency (EGMONT - Royal Institute for International Relations), OECD - OCDE , the European Commission (DG REGIO), the European Committee of the Regions, and more than twenty European regions. 📚 2024 Technical Support Instrument Annual Conference (24-25 April 2024): The #Conference will bring together high-level inspirational speakers and panellists from the EU Member States, the EU institutions, fellow international organizations to discuss how the EU supports the Member States reform process and how best we could keep supporting them in the future. The meeting will pave the way for the official launch of the TSI 2025 Cycle, and the communication of its priorities for the upcoming year. 🇪🇺22nd SEDEC Commission meeting (26 April 2024): The topics on the agenda are: the opinion on Recommendations for the next Framework Programme (FP10) for Research and Innovation; the opinion on #DemographicChange in Europe: a toolbox for action; and the opinion on Ethical #artificialintelligence and access to supercomputing for #start-ups.

📢 Report on the Performance of European Partnerships under Horizon Europe published! Following on my latest post, the European Commission has published the second edition of the report on the #performance of #EuropeanPartnerships under #HorizonEurope (Biennial Monitoring Report - BMR 2024) The report aims to provide a strong evidence-base to guide the implementation of partnerships and to inform strategic discussions on the effectiveness of the new policy approach to European Partnerships in Horizon Europe. In particular, the report offers an analysis of: ✅ The effectiveness of the new policy approach for European Partnerships and the extent to which it leads to a better achievement of objectives and impacts compared to traditional calls under the Framework Programme. ✅ The progress of European Partnerships towards their objectives and targeted impacts – both individually and collectively, at the EU and national level. ✅ Early implementation drivers and barriers towards impacts – e.g. in terms of contributions, coherence, collaboration, openness or accessibility of partnerships. ✅ First results achieved, in view of their further demonstration, exploitation and valorisation, including for policymaking by Commission Services and national administrations. The European Partnerships are key implementation tools of Horizon Europe and contribute significantly to achieving the EU’s political priorities. They are initiatives where the European Union, together with private and/or public partners commit to support jointly the development and implementation of an integrated programme of #research and #innovation activities. The programmatic approach is what sets European Partnerships apart from the usual project-based approach of Horizon Europe. This report is the second in a series of four biennial reports, planned to be published in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028. Have a look to the report 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/e49t7XYA Want to know more about European Partnerships in Horizon Europe? 👉🏼 #HorizonEU #impact

While 2028 may seem distant, in the context of this regulation and today’s evolving regulatory landscape, this deadline provides the ideal opportunity for an organization to design its strategy, assess its current position, and address any identified gaps comprehensively. Beginning preparations now will not only ensure timely compliance but also offer competitive advantages, strengthen stakeholder trust, build operational resilience, and position the organization to align with current and future regulatory developments, which are likely to continue advancing in this direction. Peterson Projects and Solutions (Europe) can assist in designing and implementing effective strategies to achieve these goals. Do feel free to reach out to us if you would like to learn more. #csrd #csddd #esrs #hredd