Quote of the Week: "A man's life is interesting primarily when he has
failed. I well know. For it's a sign that he tried to surpass himself" -
Georges Clemenceau
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ESBA WEEKLY of Friday 04 May 2001 - VOL 3 - N° 22
Headlines of WEEK 18:
- ENTREPRENEURSHIP: ESBA supports "Awards for the Spirit of Enterprise"
- SINGLE MARKET: European Commission launches fifth SLIM round
- UPCOMING EVENTS
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EU / ENTREPRENEURSHIP
30/04/2001: ESBA supports "European Awards for the Spirit of Enterprise"
Also this year again, JEE (a network of private and public entities, all
engaged in the promotion of young entrepreneurs) organises the "European
Awards for the spirit of enterprise". Four main prize categories are
defined: young people with the education and training institutions as a
partner (SPIN-OFF & EDUCATION), the launch of new enterprises (SEED), the
growth of new enterprises (START-UP), and the growth and the innovation of
SMEs over the break-even point (EXPANSION & INNOVATION). The deadline to
hand in applications is 31 May 2001.
ESBA is happy to announce that it is now also supporting the competition
for the first time since its creation in 1998. The award is a good example
of an open, democratic and concrete effort to foster entrepreneurship in
Europe. We hope that many entrepreneurs from all over Europe will show
their innovative and creative spirit by participating in the award scheme.
More information and application:
http://www.jee.org/ & http://www.jee.org/app/esba.htm
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EU / SINGLE MARKET
03/05/2001: European Commission launches fifth SLIM round
The SLIM initiative, launched in 1996, aims to improve the quality of
legislation, limit costs related to its implementation and reduce its
volume. The legislation that will be reviewed in the fifth round concern:
- the shipment of radioactive waste;
- the levels of pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables; and
- the Directive on Cosmetics
The European Commission undertook a critical review of the strengths and
weakness of the initiative early 2000 and adopted an action plan to
increase its effectiveness. The fifth round will be crucial to evaluate
the effectiveness of the implementation of the action plan, as SLIM and
the review have been criticised by the European Parliament in January 2001
(see ESBA WEEKLY - Vol 3 - N 6&7) for the lack of concrete results and
progress so far and the limited impact it had until now reducing the
burden of red tape on business, whereas . Only 14 legislative areas have
been reviewed so far. More info (copy/paste full link):
http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/oeil/oeil_ViewDNL.ProcViewCTX?lang=2&procid=4
086&HighlighType=1&Highlight_Text=slim
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Brussels (B) 7&8/05/2001: SMEs and ETUC action; Theme: Trade union action
in SMEs, SMEs and the Social Dialogue.
Info: http://www.etuc.org/press/Release/PR18e-01.cfm
Noordwijk aan Zee (NL) 10&11/05/2001: Concerted action seminar on Business
Failure; Theme: Business failure, Entrepreneurship, Good practices. Info:
http://www.ez.nl/businessfailure/index.htm
Brussels (B) 29/05/2001: Make it simple!; Theme: Enterprise Policy, SMEs,
regulations. Info: http://www.unice.org
Lisbon (P) 18&19/06/2001: New strategies for improved health in SME, role
of social partners, policy developments and creating supportive
environments: Info: http://www.bkk.de/gesundheit/health_at_work
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The ESBA Weekly is now sent to an increasing amount of persons with a
direct interest in SMEs.
This bulletin is made in cooperation with LOGOS (http://www.logos-eu.com).
