Functions and competences

Support Unit

Aspects related to personnel: vacancies, secondments, leaves, sick leaves, holidays, etc.
Budget-related matters: drawing up, controlling and modifying budgets.
Economic-financial management: accounting documents, procedures involved in tenders/agreements, cash advances, relations with the Audit Office/ State Legal Service/ Contracting Committee.
Matters related to training personnel.
Relations with the Office for Budget and Management for logistics and maintenance-related matters.
Relations with bodies of the Administration: parliamentary questions, proposals for regulations, etc

Promotion and coordination of programmes and actions agreed in the SME Sector Conference.
Those related to actions to be performed within the framework of the Observatory for SMEs regulated by Royal Decree 943/2005, of 29 July.
Co-operation with other ministerial departments and with the autonomous regions in identifying and proposing actions aimed at simplifying and improving SME relations with the government. Technical and administrative assistance to the SME Sector Conference and the Committee of Director-Generals of said Sector Conference.
Monitoring and assessment of European Union small and medium-sized enterprise support polices, derived from the European Charter for Small Enterprises and the European Council guidelines.
Representation of the Department in the management committee and in the activities and projects under the 2007-2013 framework programme for Competitiveness and Innovation, designed for European SMEs, as well as representation in SME forums and activities, in the enterprising initiative of the OECD and in other multilateral forums and activities carried out under government policies for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Bilateral relations with other countries within the scope of small and medium-sized enterprises, to promote exchange of information and best practices and joint business promotion actions.

Analysis and proposals to simplify legislation and reduce administrative loads for SMEs.
Implementation and monitoring of government policies aimed at facilitating company creation, management of the Centro de Información y Red de Creación de Empresas (Centre for Information and Company Creation Network) (CIRCE) regulated by Royal Decree 682/2003, of 7 June, and advice to entrepreneurs with small and medium-sized enterprises.
Preparation of studies, statistics and databases to monitor and evaluate the policies carried out by the Directorate-General.
Dissemination useful information for small and medium-sized enterprises through the SME portal and other websites of the Directorate-General.
Performance of actions to raise awareness of and promote enterprising initiatives.

Proposal, design and management of grants and implementation of actions and programmes managed jointly with the autonomous regions and aimed at supporting the competitiveness of SMEs by carrying out projects in the technological, organisational and business management fields.
Implementation of programmes aimed at strengthening industrial districts and the networks of co-operation between small and medium-sized enterprises.
Management of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade's Special Register for Innovative Business Groupings, regulated by Order ITC/3808/2007, of 19 December.
Administrative and financial management of the public grant programmes under the authority of the Directorate-General of SME Policy, as well as monitoring and ensuring that the grant beneficiaries' fulfil their obligations.
Analysis, submission of proposals for improvement, development and publicising of sources of finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Development of actions aimed at facilitating access to SME financing, either directly, or instrumented via the entities CERSA and ENISA.
Preparation and monitoring of the agreements signed with entities that develop SME support activities financed through the Directorate-General's budgets.
Any others that the legal system attributes to the department and which are not specifically assigned to other authorities as regards small and medium-sized enterprises.