Co-operatives are an important part of European economic life and industry. There are 250,000 co-operative enterprises in the EU, owned by 163 million citizens (1 in 3 EU citizens) and they employ 5.4 million people.
On 23/04/2012 DG Enterprise and Industry organised with the Association „Cooperatives Europe”, a large conference on ‘Co-operative contributions to the EU 2020 strategy’ with more than 200 participants.
Increasing the use of e-procurement in Europe can generate significant savings for European taxpayers. Public entities that have already implemented e-procurement report savings of between 5% and 20% of their procurement expenditure.
Greek small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are confronted with very adverse operating conditions: 6 out of 10 firms saw deterioration in their earnings in 2011 compared to 2010. 150,000 jobs were lost in SMEs in 2011. It is expected that during the first half of 2012 up to 1000 SMEs per week will close
With EU unemployment hitting record levels and forecasts of a grim economic outlook for the months ahead, the Commission has come forward today with a set of concrete measures to boost jobs.
After many months of crisis, the conditions now exist to start moving from crisis to growth in Greece. Agreement on the Second Economic Adjustment Programme and the success of the debt reduction agreement with the private sector mean that all efforts can now be concentrated on much needed growth and jobs.
The European Commission today launches the “We Mean Business” campaign, which aims to encourage companies to create more trainee placements to boost young people's skills and employability.
Entrepreneurship education is being increasingly promoted in most European countries, according to a new report published by the European Commission.
The European Commission has published an extensive survey – the first of its kind - to understand the views and attitudes of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) towards resource efficiency and green markets. The report addresses three core themes: resource efficiency, green markets and green jobs.
According to the Eurobarometer survey on "SMEs, resource efficiency and green markets", 37% of EU SMEs have at least one full or part-time green employee. Green jobs are largely created in SMEs as opposed to large firms: In 2012, 1 in 8 employees of small and medium-sized firms had a green job or almost 13% of all SME jobs.
This year’s entries for the European Business Awards for the Environment represent a variety of business sectors, ranging from telecommunications to retail, eco-design, transport, food industry and construction.
On the occasion of the event "Crossroads of Europe – Cultural and Religious Routes", taking place in Pavia in June 2012, the Municipality of Pavia is organising the competition "On the Way - European travel, art and spirituality routes".
In 2010 the EU’s share in global trade with mechanical engineering products amounted to 37.2%, which is around 3% above its share in 2000. This development contrasts to the performance of the US and Japan, whose shares fell from 25.6% to 17.4% and from 21.3% to 15.6%, whereas China's share increased to 13.0% from only 3% in 2000.
The European Commission proposes to improve business opportunities for EU firms in procurement markets. The main objective of the initiative is to help open worldwide public procurement markets and to ensure European businesses have fair access to them.
The Commission launched its 2012 edition of the European Enterprise Promotion Awards. It rewards the success of public bodies and public-private partnerships in promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship.
European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani will visit today Tunisia. The primary aim of the visit is to speed up the preparations leading to negotiations on EU market access agreements with the South-Mediterranean countries.
A new consolidated list of references of harmonised standards under the low voltage directive 2006/95/EC was published in the Official Journal C 61 of 29 February 2012.
The supply of raw materials, the lifeblood of today's high-tech industry, is increasingly under pressure. With a view to increasing Europe's own production, the European Commission has proposed today to set up a European Innovation Partnership on raw materials.
Following the Communication on the Social Business Initiative, the Commission decided to set up a new Commission Group of Experts entitled "Groupe d'Experts de la Commission sur l'entrepreneuriat social" ('GECES').
An overview of the main funding opportunities available to European SMEs. NEW January 2012 edition.
