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ESBA's Top Stories in 2006
06 November 2007: ESBA Delegation visited the Baltic States.
From 19 to 23/10, ESBA President Tina Sommer and Senior Brussels Representative Fred Soudain learnt about SME representation in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The visit to Riga entailed a series of meetings with representatives of SME associations or other organisations, including the Latvian Network of Women Entrepreneurs, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and the Estonian Union of Women in Business.
23 October 2006: A new annual publication, 'ESBA Activities 2006-2007: The Way Forward for Small Businesses in Europe,' has been released.
ESBA is pleased to announce the release of its first annual publication. Its aims are two-fold: Firstly, it will report on the progress made by ESBA in representing the cause of small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs at EU level and to promote the activities of independent small business organisations providing advocacy and benefits in Europe. ESBA's objectives are to focus on results and impacts; Secondly, it will inform readers about our future plans for advancing independent small business advocacy and benefits organisations in Europe as the most appropriate groups to design and deliver improvements to individual entrepreneurs and to lobby for a better regulatory and policy environment for entrepreneurs at both the EU and national level.
Click here to view the new ESBA publication (pdf) or email secretariat@esba-europe.org to order additional hard copies, which are available now.
15 and 16 September 2006: At its Board Meeting in Amsterdam, ESBA welcomed ERENET and The New Welfare Foundation to the Alliance.
ESBA is pleased to welcome the Entrepeneurship and Research and Education Network of Central European Universities (ERENET) as a new Member. During their visit to The Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Hungary in July, ESBA President, Tina Sommer, and Senior Brussels Representative Fred Soudain met Dr. Antal Szabo and Prof. Peter Szirmai in Budapest and discussed future collaboration. ERENET's Membership of ESBA was ratified by the Board in September. ERENET was launched in April 2005, following the UNECE Forum on Best Practice in Good Governance of SMEs a year earlier in Geneva. The network comprises 33 universities, high-schools, research institutions and government authorities dealing with SME research and entrepeneurship education from 19 countries. It is an open-ended network, to further co-operation among the institutions in this area, to undertake co-operative projects, and to contribute to the common intellectual capital in this field.
ESBA is also pleased to welcome The New Welfare Foundation (Den Nya Välfärden - DNV) as a new Member. ESBA President Tina Sommer recently traveled to meet Mr. Patrik Engellau, President of DNV, which had been introduced to ESBA by Gustaf Skulason, Director of Member organisation SENSE. Following a successful meeting, DNV's application for Membership of ESBA was also agreed by the Board last month. DNV, 'a think tank for its time,' is devoted to influencing public (and official) opinion about democracy, social welfare and private enterprise. It is non-partisan and, since 1988, has presented concrete proposals in more than 30 publications to bring about a new social welfare system and a Swedish nation that is friendlier toward entrepreneurs. DNV manages projects such as The 4th of October for Entrepreneurship, the Commission for Competition, an Ombudsman for Business and the Stock Market for Entrepreneurs, to further the aims of its proposals.
ESBA looks forward to long and fruitful collaboration with its new Members.
For more information, please contact secretariat@esba-europe.org.
18, 19 and 20 July 2006 : The ESBA President and Brussels Representative embarked on a trip to three Central European Countries.
ESBA President, Tina Sommer, and Brussels Representative, Frédéric Soudain, undertook a three day mission to The Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Hungary to learn about small business representation in Central Europe in July. The trip entailed a series of meetings with representatives of SME associations or other appropriate organisations. These included sessions with the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS), the Association of Employers of Slovenia (ZDS) and ERENET, an entrepreneurship research network of Central European Universities in Hungary. A trip to the Baltic States is scheduled to take place in October.
For more information, please contact secretariat@esba-europe.org.
31 May 2006 : ESBA President Tina Sommer hosted a Dinner with Guest Speaker, Anne Mettler, from the Lisbon Council, in Brussels.
The ESBA President Tina Sommer hosted a dinner at the Stanhope Hotel in Brussels on 31 May 2006. Tina is also a Director and Chairman for International Affairs for the UK Federation of Small Business (FSB), which is a member of ESBA, and took the opportunity to present the Alliance, its work and objectives to attendees, which included FSB and ESBA members and staff.
The Dinner was part of the launch of the FSB's Brussels Office. Afterwards, Guest Speaker Anne Mettler spoke passionately about the important role ESBA plays in representing the interests of small business entrepeneurs to the European Institutions. Anne recognised the challenges faced by SME representative organisations and suggested bold solutions for the future.
For more information, please contact secretariat@esba-europe.org.
31 May 2006 : ESBA supported a Dinner - 'Giving SMEs a voice in the Innovation and IP Debate' - hosted by Paul Ruebig MEP in Brussels.
The European Commission's DG Markt has recently finalised the first stage of a broad public consultation aimed at defining the future IP Regime for the EU. More than 2000 position papers have been submitted to DG Markt, but seemingly not enough from SMEs and their representative organisations.
This Dinner Debate therefore focused on the experiences of SME entrepreneurs, who presented their views on the IP system in Europe and how to make it work better for the innovative entrepreneurs on whom Europe’s economic future depends. EU Officials, including Jean-Luc Gal, from the EPO, Mirjam Soderholm from DG Markt and Sharon Bowles MEP, also participated in the debate, which took place in the Parliament's 'Members' Restaurant'.
A report is available on request. Please contact secretariat@esba-europe.org.
02 May 2006 : The 9th ESBA Annual Event 2006 - "SMEs Go International" - was held in Brussels.
The morning session entailed a lively dialogue between delegates and representatives of the EU Institutions. Keynote speakers included Maive Rute, Director of DG Enterprise and Industry, who addressed the issue of whether SMEs really are at the heart of the New Lisbon Strategy and colleagues, Ingrid Valentini-Wanka and Jonathan Claridge, from DG Trade. Following a productive Lunch Meeting at the European Parliament, hosted by Edit Herczog MEP, Vice-Chairwoman of the Intergroup on SMEs, four entrepreneurs and a researcher presented interesting best practice cases of SMEs ‘going international.’ Outgoing ESBA President Brian A. Prime and his successor, Tina Sommer, also took the floor to open and close a successful day of discussion.
A report is available on request. Please contact secretariat@esba-europe.org.
01 May 2006 : ESBA's New Honorary President and President were elected at the Alliance's Board Meeting in Brussels.
Following Brian A. Prime’s retirement, Tina Sommer was elected President of ESBA. She had been Hon. Secretary for two years and a Member of the Board since 2002. Tina is also a Director and Chairman for International Affairs for the UK Federation of Small Businesses, which is a member of ESBA. She is a Director of Froben Ltd., a consultancy based in Cardiff, which specialises in Administration Analysis and IT for the Manufacturing, Engineering, Catering, Tourism, Timber and Retail Industries. She has worked in the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Estonia, Latvia and several other EU States.
Brian A. Prime, was elected Honorary President. Brian has served the SME cause in Europe for over 30 years and helped establish the UK Federation of Small Business in 1974. A dinner following ESBA's successful Annual Event on 2 May was held in Brian's honour. It was attended by friends and former colleagues, including Dr Ingo Friedrich MEP, Philip Bushill-Matthews MEP, John Bowis MEP, Bruno Wattenberg, Director of the Agence Bruxelloise pour l’Entreprise, and Rob van der Horst, President of the EIM Institute. Brian was presented with a personalised stamp by Gustav Skulason, Director of ESBA member organisation SENSE from Sweden, to mark the occasion.
For more information, please click here to view ESBA's full press release
Page last updated: 15/02/2008 10:27:10 AM