EU Green Paper on Entrepreneurship Released

The Commission of the European Union recently released its Green Paper on Entrepreneurship Policy for the European Union.

Entrepreneurship is a crucial element for achieving the political objectives set at the European Council Meeting in Lisbon in 2000, where the European Union committed itself to becoming, within a decade, the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. Entrepreneurship is a driver for economic growth, competitiveness and job creation. Furthermore, it can be a vehicle for personal development and can help resolve social issues.

At the Barcelona Council in 2002 the Council took note of the Commission’s intention to present a Green Paper on Entrepreneurship in 2003 as a contribution to reaching these ambitious goals.

This Green Paper outlines what we understand as entrepreneurship and what are its constituent parts, explains the importance of entrepreneurship and assesses the state of entrepreneurship in Europe. The Paper addresses two key issues for Europe. Firstly, why do so few people start a business, when a relatively large number of individuals express their interest in entrepreneurship? Secondly, why do so few European enterprises grow and why do those that grow do so at such a modest rate?

The Green Paper aims to stimulate debate amongst policy makers, businesses, representative organizations, journalists and experts on how to shape entrepreneurship policy for the future. It analyses a range of policy options and asks, within the proposed framework for entrepreneurship policy, a number of questions suggesting different options on how to reach progress.