KEPA's executives participated in the 12th European Microcredit Network Annual Conference, held in Dublin, on June 18-20, 2015, entitled "Microfinance and Banks: Are we the right partners?".

KEPA's executives have participated in the "2nd European Territorial Cooperation Conference: Launching the Programming Period 2014-2020 - The Challenge of Synergies", which took place on 22nd & 23rd June 2015 in Thessaloniki, Greece (Venue: Makedonia Palace Hotel). 

The event officially launched the INTERREG Programming Period 2014-2020. The goal of the Conference was to present the Programmes Greece is managing (Greece-Bulgaria, Greece-Cyprus, Greece-Italy, Greece-Albania, Greece-the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Balkan-Mediterranean) as well as the Programmes Greece is participating in, to seek synergies  and common ground for capitalization and to pave the way for the 1st Calls for Proposals.

On 10 July 2015 the European Economic and Social Committee organises the closing event of the Social Enterprise project on which it has been working since January 2014. The objective of this event, called "Social Entrepreneurship: Make It Happen! - A Renewed Commitment", will be to give a synoptic view of the work which have been carried out by the EESC project group and to present the results.

To promote jobs and growth in Europe, social and micro-enterprises will soon have access to over 500 million euro of finance. This is the result of a new mandate agreement signed today between the European Commission and the European Investment Fund.

Support will be made available under the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), which will provide a 96 million euro guarantee for the period 2014-2020 which is expected to mobilise over 500 million euro of loans.

KEPA’s executives attended FEBEA's Conference 2015, in 15/06/2015, Brussels. The Conference was entitled "Ethical finance and Culture - towards a sustainable alliance" and its' main subject was the financing of projects in the field of culture and creative cultural industry from the EU.

Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015: for the EU at large innovation performance has been stalling in the last year. The impact of the economic crisis has become visible for several Member States which showed a decreasing innovation performance compared to last year. Last year's edition showed that there were positive signs as the innovation performance improved and the catching up process of less innovative countries resumed after it had reversed two years ago.

On Tuesday 28/4/2015, the bidding procedure for the tender launched by KEPA was completed. KEPA had launched on 27/03/2015 a call for tenders for the selection of a contractor for the "Preparation and pilot operation of the Business Development Services Centers", in the framework of the project “INVEST IN PEOPLE OF THE CROSS-BORDER AREA” with the acronym “MICROSTARS”, funded by the "Greece – The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme 2007-2013".

 

The following text is an initiative of KEPA and the unofficial translation of the RIS3 of the Region of Central Macedonia is based on the last draft version available. Keep in mind that presently, the specific draft is being evaluated by European Union’s authorities. In any case, this text does not bind the Region of Central Macedonia and does not assure that this will be its final version and there will be no changes.

KEPA has published a clarification on the tender 1/2015 Call for Tenders (open procedure) for “Preparation and pilot operation of the Business Development Services Centers” in the framework of the project “INVEST IN PEOPLE OF THE CROSS-BORDER AREA” with acronym “MICROSTARS”, funded by "Greece – The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia IPA Cross-Border Programme 2007-2013".

European Commission has issued "A beginner’s guide to EU funding". This publication introduces beginners to the wide range of EU funding opportunities available. It offers basic guidance on the application procedures and tells you where to find more details. This guide contains the most recent information about the current EU programmes for the financial period 2014–20. The guide targets six main categories of potential applicants: small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), young people, researchers, farmers and public bodies. However, it may also be a valuable source of information for applicants from other fields.