The Basics  EEA - to recognise and reward excellence in enterprise and entrepreneurship promotion especially at regional level  EEA - not only a competition but also aim to raise awareness of enterprise and celebrate success  EEA - Participation for EU Member States + Norway, Turkey, Serbia

The Objectives  Identify and recognise successful activities and initiatives that promote enterprise and entrepreneurship  Showcase and share examples of enterprise- friendly policies and practices  Create greater awareness of role of entrepreneurs in society  Encourage and inspire potential entrepreneurs

Benefits for Winners  Invitation to participate in Awards ceremony and conference on exchange of good practices under the Small Business Act  Nominees’ initiatives posted on the EEA website  Visibility in the media  Role model  Network of excellence

Categories for 2011  Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit  Investing in Skills  Improving the Business Environment  Supporting the Internationalisation of Business  Responsible and Inclusive Entrepreneurship +Jury’s Grand Prize

National Selection Process Tasks of SPOCs (National Points of Contact):  run selection at national level  promote the EEA in their countries and invite suitable initiatives to enter  can decide to organise a national competition (in the last years about 18 countries organized national competitions)  decide about entry deadlines in each country  act as help desk for potential entrants  select up to two projects as nominees for European selection process

Participation in Numbers countries (EU-25, Bulg, Rom, Norway) 405 entries 51 entries at European Level 5 category winners, Grand Jury and 2 special mentions countries (EU-27 except Cy, Slo, Norway) 325 entries 48 European entries 4 category winners, Grand Jury, 2 special mentions, good practices countries (EU-27 except Malta, Lux, Bulg) 350 entries 47 European entries 5 category winners, Grand Jury, 1 special mention, good practices 2009/ countries (EU-27 + Norway) 338 entries 52 European entries 5 category winners, Grand Jury, 1 special mention

Categories of Entries Entrepreneurial Trailblazer Enterprise Support Investment in People Responsible Entrepreneurship Red Tape Reduction Jury’s Grand Prize 2007 Entrepreneurial Trailblazer Enterprise Support Investment in People Responsible Entrepreneurship Red Tape Reduction Jury’s Grand Prize 2008 Entrepreneurship Promotion Enterprise Development Investment in Skills Responsible & Inclusive Entrepreneurship Red Tape Reduction Jury’s Grand Prize 2009/2010 Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit Investing in Skills Improving the Business Environment Supporting the Internationalisation of Business Responsible & Inclusive Entrepreneurship Jury’s Grand Prize

Entries received

European Jury 2010/ 2011  Joanna Drake, EU Director for the Promotion of the Competitiveness of SMEs, European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry  Dr Anders Lundström, Past President of Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research. Founder of IPREG, Innovative Policy Research for Economic Growth  Lucio Gussetti, Director of the Directorate for Consultative Works, Committee of the Regions  Andrea Benassi, Secretary-General, UEAPME  A representative of the French project “Entrepreneurs in Residence”, winner of the 2010 European Enterprise Award (Grand Jury Prize)  Representative of Belgian Autumn 2010 Presidency  Representative of Hungarian Spring 2010 Presidency

Award Ceremony Madrid 2010  Organised with Spanish Presidency as part of the 2 nd European SME Week in May  350 participants were invited to the ceremony with gala dinner at Real Fábrica de Tapices Madrid

Award Ceremonies Common points  Exhibition stands of shortlisted candidates  Awards ceremony with VIPs from the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions and the EU Presidency Country  Interactive workshop where winners presented their projects  Compendium of finalists 2010

Winners 2009/2010  Jury’s grand prize: Résidences d’Entrepreneurs, Agence Régionale de Développement des Territoires d’Auvergne (ARDTA), France  Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Self-employment in the creative industries (seminar at the Linz University of Art), Institute for Business Creation and Development (IUG), Johannes Kepler University, Linz

Winners 2009/2010 continued  Investing in skills: Business-minded learning (Företagsamt Halland),  Halland, Sweden  Improving the Business Environment: Programme to support entrepreneurs in order to reduce the closure rate of businesses, DATA Poslovne Soritve, d.o.o., Ljubljana, Slovenia

Winners 200/2010 continued  Supporting the Internationalisation of Business: Euregional Start-up Initiative (EGI), German partner: Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences; Dutch partner: Stichting Team Venlo, Euregio Rhein-Maas-Nord  Responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship: Construction of houses as a training exercise for the unemployed, District Labour Office, Nysa, Poland

Promotion  - European:  European Commission press releases and publications  Network of promoters: Committee of the Regions, UEAPME, Eurochambres, Eurada, Eurocities  Events organised by DG Enterprise, promoters, other stakeholders  Website, database of good practices  Creation and updating of an extensive media contact database (news agencies, media associations, business media)  - National:  Press releases, newsletters, direct mailing  Relations with specific online and print media  Website, social media

European Enterprise Awards practices/european-enterprise-awards/index_en.htm