The ageing of society does not stop at company owners. More and more companies have to be handed over to the new generation. This process is a challenge for all parties involved. The support of business transfer assistance is just as essential for the European economy as the promotion of start-ups because both are critical to the development of the European economy. Over 450.000 firms with over two million jobs are transferred to a new owner in the EU-28 each year. Around one-third of these transfers fail, and the companies are closed. The future growth and sustainability of innovative companies in the Baltic Sea Region are severely limited by failed business transfers. Furthermore, due to a lack of available and appropriate successors, many firms are liquidated rather than transferred. This publication is part of the project INBETS (www.inbets.eu), highlights the background to the current situation of business transfers in the Baltic Sea Region, and proposes a policy program to promote business successions and open up new target groups of potential successors. Part-financed by the European Union (European Development Fund and European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) within the INBETS project. This publication does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission.

The ageing of society does not stop at company owners. More and more companies have to be handed over to the new generation. This process is a challenge for all parties involved. The support of business transfer assistance is just as essential for the European economy as the promotion of start-ups because both are critical to the development of the European economy. Over 450.000 firms with over two million jobs are transferred to a new owner in the EU-28 each year. Around one-third of these transfers fail, and the companies are closed. The future growth and sustainability of innovative companies in the Baltic Sea Region are severely limited by failed business transfers. Furthermore, due to a lack of available and appropriate successors, many firms are liquidated rather than transferred. This publication is part of the project INBETS (www.inbets.eu), highlights the background to the current situation of business transfers in the Baltic Sea Region, and proposes a policy program to promote business successions and open up new target groups of potential successors. Part-financed by the European Union (European Development Fund and European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) within the INBETS project. This publication does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission.

A sound promotion of innovation is essential for the future of the Baltic Sea Region, in particular to support the small- and medium sized enterprises. For this purposes stakeholders from medium-sized businesses, science, politics, and administration met at the seventh Hanseatic Conference in May 2012 in Hamburg. For two days the participants discussed about "Innovation and innovative strategies in the regional policy around the mare balticum" to further strengthen the region. It became evident, that a sustainable promotion of innovation demands a closer cooperation within the regions, on a transnational level but also between administrations and especially between companies and R&D institutions. The Baltic Sea area will only be one of the most innovative and strong regions in the world, if the bordering countries build a unit. This publication included the presented papers and summarizes the discussion of the participants.

To remain competitive in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must increase their innovation capacity and close the gap between qualification requirements and demands. Human capital is the most important resource for increasing productivity and innovation. As a result, the "Knowledge Alliance for Human Resources and Organizational Development" project was launched and ran from 2017 to 2021. The project of eleven partners from four countries placed a high value on increased collaboration between universities and businesses in order to promote education and innovation. The most important findings are included in this publication. First, through R&D work at universities, SME-specific methods, instruments, and projects are developed, tested, and implemented, resulting in workplace innovations in areas such as employee recruitment, motivation, and digitization, a more innovative working environment, and more efficient use of human capital. Second, through qualifications, small and medium-sized enterprises in the Baltic Sea Region's awareness and competencies in this new area of innovation promotion was strengthened.

This report highlights progress being made in modernising the banking, telecommunications, electricity, air freight sectors in the Baltic States.

At the end of 2012 the Baltic Sea Region Programme initiated the cluster “Innovation in SMEs”, starting with ten projects that focused their work on this important topic. During 2013 three additional projects joined the initiative. Most projects are flagship projects within the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region, namely in Priority SME Networks, Innovation and Education. Maintaining a high level of innovative thinking and entrepreneurship is crucial for SMEs to stay competitive and allow growth in the region. This publication gives an short overview of the 13 projects that were implemented between 2010 and 2014. The projects participated in workshops and surveys to increase the mutual learning and share experience. The findings are summarized. In 2013 a survey was conducted to learn more about the status quo of “Innovation in SMEs” in the Baltic Sea Region and learn more about the relevant topics for the future. More than 600 stakeholders participated in the survey. The publication shows the most relevant questions and answers and draws the conclusions from the survey.