EU call for trade fairs (announcement, December 2024)

Note, 30 October 2026. The Ministry of Economy published the call Support for SME Internationalisation (PK.1.3.10) on 3 June 2025, applications were accepted from 1 July 2025 at 11:00, intake was suspended on 29 August 2025, and the call was closed on 7 January 2026 because the allocation was used up. The conditions of the published call are in our article Support for SME Internationalisation, and current calls are tracked in our guides EU grants for businesses 2026 and Business incentives and upcoming calls 2026.

In December 2024, about 10 days remained until the end of the e-Savjetovanja public consultation on the long-awaited EU call “Support to SMEs for Internationalisation” (Potpora MSP-ovima za internacionalizaciju), after which the call was expected to be published, making as much as EUR 25 million available to SMEs to co-finance participation in trade fairs abroad (the fairs must be listed in the online database at www.auma.de).

A similar call, Internationalisation of SME Business, Phase 2 (Internacionalizacija poslovanja MSP-ova, Faza 2), was open 4 years ago, and more than 300 projects were approved for companies from various sectors, with aid amounts of up to EUR 132,000 and an aid intensity of 85% of eligible costs for micro and small enterprises.

Since then there has been no similar call to encourage companies to take part in trade fairs, so strong interest from entrepreneurs can again be expected for this call, in which the total allocation will be considerably larger than in 2020. The initial allocation of the previous call was EUR 7.7 million, but it was later increased to EUR 17.7 million because of the exceptionally strong interest from entrepreneurs.

In this year’s call, the planned allocation was expected to be sufficient for all interested applicants who submit their project in time (on the “fastest finger” principle) to actually receive co-financing for participation in trade fairs abroad.

Range of EU grants:
– EUR 6,000.00 to 60,000.00

Expected aid intensities:
– up to 75% for micro and small enterprises
– up to 60% for medium-sized enterprises

Project implementation period:
– up to 24 months (participation in 2 fairs is possible during this period)

Eligible costs include:
– stand rental and fit-out
– production of promotional materials
– registration fees
– indirect costs (travel, accommodation, daily allowances, etc.)

The published call, with grants of EUR 6,000 to 120,000, is described in our article Support for SME Internationalisation. Investments in equipment and production can be financed with HBOR loans for entrepreneurs 2026 combined with investment tax incentives.

Several EU calls for small and medium-sized enterprises have been announced for the beginning of next year, and you can read more about them HERE.

For more details and information, and for help with the professional preparation of projects, contact us at: info@omniasolutions.hr, and you can also follow all information on new EU and national grant calls on our LinkedIn profile.