Candidate countries to endorse European charter for small businesses
EU candidate countries are expected to endorse the European Charter for small businesses at a conference in Maribor, Slovenia on 23 to 24 April, following an invitation to do so from EU Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen. Endorsement of the charter is crucial to the drive to involve candidate countries more extensively in the policies and working methods at the heart of the Lisbon strategy, a point recognised by Commission President Romano Prodi at the Barcelona Council in March 2002. The charter sets out policy guidelines in 10 areas, including access to finance, education, entrepreneurship training, better legislation and regulation, access to innovation and technology, exploitation of single market opportunities and the representation of SME (small and medium sized enterprises) interests at national and EU levels. At the conference, candidate country ministers and representatives from the private sector will discuss how to make the business environment more conducive to entrepreneurship and friendlier to SMEs. The conclusions will contribute to defining future actions to be undertaken to help candidate countries make progress towards the Lisbon goals. The Commission views the Maribor conference as a landmark stage in the process of integrating the candidate countries into EU enterprise policy. The process was launched in March 2001 with the preparation of the 'CC BEST' report on entrepreneurship and competitiveness in the accession countries, which compiled information on some 400 measures to be taken by public or private bodies in this area. The expected declaration of acceptance of the charter is seen as having a strong political value in the countries which are completing their transition from planned to open market economies, and which need to encourage private sector development. Candidate countries will, in the future, be included in the Commission's annual report to the spring European Council on the implementation of the European Charter. They will also participate fully in the multi-annual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship for 2001 to 2005.