Enterprise Europe Network third annual conference
During this annual meeting, the various partners will discuss European Commission priorities for the network for the year to come, focusing on innovation and international business. Over three days, members of various working groups will set out new actions and specific approaches, exchange best practices and present new tools to support European SMEs. Particular attention will be paid to the role of European SMEs in 2020 and to the support that the Enterprise Europe Network should give entrepreneurs in order for them to remain competitive on the global market.
The Enterprise Europe Network Annual Conference is a three-day annual internal conference for all the network’s partners. In addition to representatives from consortiums belonging to the Enterprise Europe Network, Directorate General (DG) Enterprise and Industry and the EACI (the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation of the European Commission) – which oversees the network’s daily operations at the Commission’s request – will also take part in the conference. Several representatives from other Commission services, such as DG Regional Policy, DG Internal Market & Services and DG Research, will also be present.
The programme has been drawn up by the Commission (DG Enterprise and Industry), the EACI and the Network. It focuses on the priorities that the EU has fixed for the network for the year to come. Taking the overarching EU post-Lisbon agenda (Europe 2020, a strategy for intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth) into account, the conference’s main theme will discuss these issues and address the following questions: What will the European SME’s mission in 2020 be? And how will the Enterprise Europe Network support entrepreneurs?
There will also be best practice workshops enabling the network’s various consortia to exchange knowledge and experience. The goal is to bring innovation to the three-day conference. Various “practical sessions” have been planned for participants, during which they will be able to test new tools and techniques that they will subsequently be able to use with entrepreneurs in their own networks.
Special attention will also be paid to feedback given to the Commission by the Enterprise Europe Network’s consortia about their day-to-day experiences in the entrepreneurial world, and more specifically, in their dealings with SMEs. Various aspects of the Small Business Act will naturally also be discussed.