The Green Action Plan (GAP), proposed by the European Commission in 2014, is aimed at helping SMEs turn environmental challenges into opportunities. It focuses on resource efficiency, green entrepreneurship and green skills, eco-innovation, greener value chains, and facilitating market access for SMEs. It also provides tools for the internationalisation of European SMEs, taking advantage of Europe's leadership in green technologies. The Plan complements other EU initiatives, such as the Green Employment Initiative, a Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, Circular Economy and European Industrial Renaissance, and is intended to create synergies between them, using the financing under existing programmes. The actions proposed are intended not only to benefit SMEs and the economy, but also to help address environmental challenges related to resource scarcity, waste management and climate change.
