Dear all,
This item appears in the latest online Enlargement Weekly
Bulletin. Apologies for cross-posting.
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CANDIDATES TAKE PART IN EU ENTERPRISE POLICY PROGRAMME
Most of the candidates will be taking part this summer in the Euro 450 million
EU programme for enterprises, which is aimed particularly at small and medium-sized
enterprises. The Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Cyprus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Lithuania are now able to benefit from the
services supplied by the 51 Euro Info Centres now open for business in the candidate
countries themselves. They will be able to access EU funding to help start-ups and
small businesses. And they will have a bigger say in EU-wide policy dialogue on
how to improve the business environment.
There are now 51 EICs in the candidate countries, but their number is expected to grow
quickly: about 25 new offices are to be opened soon, mainly in Hungary, Poland,
Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Turkey (the decision on Turkey's participation in
the programme is expected sometime after September 2002). The candidate countries'
participation in the programme is generally co-funded from the EU's Phare programme -
or similar financial sources for the three Mediterranean candidate countries - and
national budgets.
Participating in the programme enables candidates to play their full part in
formulating and benchmarking best practice in enterprise policy fields such as
industrial clusters, business incubators, business support services, and business
transfers. Participation benefits are expected to be particularly noticeable in
candidate countries that are relative newcomers to EU enterprise policy programmes,
such as Turkey and Malta. Turkey has already decided to open 12 Euro Info Centres,
while Malta will have one.
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Patrick Overy
EDC Librarian
University of Exeter
Law Library
Amory Building
Rennes Drive
EXETER
EX4 4RJ
tel. (01392) 263356 fax.no. (01392)263196
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
internet http://www.ex.ac.uk/library/internet/eurostudies.html
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