Study on the impacts of possible amendments to the ATEX Dir. 94/9/EC, the Pressure Equipment Dir. 97/23/EC and the Machinery Dir. 2006/42/EC with respect to equipment intended for use in the offshore oil and gas industry
The European Commission has made a number of initiatives and programmes available to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – widely recognised as being the backbone of the European economy – continue to thrive during this time of financial hardship.
Can public sector innovation generate growth? This question is of major significance given the current economic situation, where effective ways of creating growth are being explored. A recent survey provides interesting data from the business perspective on this topic, with many respondents putting improvements in public services for business down to innovation. There is also a high demand for public sector innovation and later this year the European Commission will pilot a Public Sector Innovation Scoreboard to help Member States exchange good practices.
In these difficult times of increasing unemployment, Europe needs more entrepreneurs. Whilst actually only 11% of European citizens are entrepreneurs, 45% would like to be their own boss if they could.
Thirty-seven examples of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have achieved success on the international stage have just been unveiled in a publication as part of the European Commission’s drive to encourage entrepreneurship in Europe. 'The Secret of Success 2012-13' is a flagship publication for the European SME Week, which will be held from 15 to 21 October 2012. One of the aims of this event will be to promote entrepreneurship and inspire more European citizens to consider it as a viable career option.
If you are considering entering these markets or expanding your activities there, the European Commission offers two valuable programmes to help you to do so. Previous participants explain how their companies benefited from the Executive Training Programme (ETP) and the EU Gateway Programme.
Big multinational companies tend to secure the lion’s share of Europe’s media coverage, with lots of articles being written about their activities and plans. However, the reality is that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a crucial driver for our economy, representing more than 98% of European businesses. SMEs can benefit from EU support in different forms and a recent guide presents a useful overview of the main opportunities available to them.
The European Commission has today called for a European effort to boost Key Enabling Technologies (KETs). The global market in KETs, which comprises micro- and nanoelectronics, advanced materials, industrial biotechnology, photonics, nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing systems, is forecast to grow from € 646 Billion to over € 1 Trio by 2015.
Today a total of 412 references of harmonised European standards related to the construction products directive (CPD) were cited in the Official Journal.
The European Commission is developing ways for a radical reshape of European industry so as to boost sustainable growth. As part of that effort, it has launched a public consultation asking stakeholders for their input into a mid-term review of its industrial policy communication. This review will focus on developing a limited number of new initiatives that can deliver substantial results in the short to medium term.
The objective of the activities to be funded by this call for proposals is to contribute to the availability of reliable statistics on social enterprises at national and European levels and to identify countries interested in collecting this information.
To improve access of EU industry to raw materials at an affordable price, the European Commission wishes to intensify cooperation with Greenland benefitting both sides, such as joint infrastructures and investments or capacity building in exploration and exploitation of raw materials.
The European Commission invites you to provide feedback on discussion papers about the corporate responsibility
Daniel Calleja Crespo is the European Commission's SME Envoy, ensuring an active interface with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Today shortages of vocational skills have become a serious problem in many economic sectors. Consequently, Europe has to better match demand for and supply of skills.
Europe is facing a severe economic crisis. But this situation and the changes are also an opportunity. We cannot let our industry simply leave Europe. It is a significant contributor to the real economy producing real values. Now, all efforts need to be undertaken to secure a modern, resource efficient, competitive and robust industry in Europe.
At a time of public budget constraints and increasing global competition it is time to put the focus on how we can boost our industrial competitiveness and innovation capacity to generate growth and create jobs in Europe.
Developing new policies to boost the competitiveness of European industry is the aim of a new public consultation, which is meant to provide input for the review of the industrial policy communication planned for September 2012. It will focus on developing a limited number of new initiatives that can deliver substantial results in the short-term.
Brussels 29/05 - José Manuel Barroso, Antonio Tajani, Jeremy Rifkin together with key European leaders and key CEOs will discuss on the steps needed to make Europe more innovative, catch up competitors and recover the path of robust and sustainable growth.
The European Commission has put forward an ambitious European Innovation Partnership for raw materials whose objective is to establish Europe as the vanguard of raw material exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution technologies by 2020. Central aims include ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials for the European industry, as well as helping EU companies put innovative technologies onto the market along the entire value chain.
