eu policy initiatives to foster more entrepreneurial start-ups · 2010. 12. 8. · forms of...

EU Policy Initiatives to Foster more Entrepreneurial Start-ups

Kiev, 10 Nov 2010UNECE International Conference 2010

Christian WeinbergerEntrepreneurship and SME Policy Adviser

How desireable is it for you to become self-employed in the comming 5 years?

Source: Flash Eurobarometer 192, January 2007Base: all respondents

50 48 48 4742

39 37 3733 33 31 30 30 30 29 29 29 28 28 26 24

21 21 20 19 18 16

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

LV PL

LT EL

US IT IE

CY

MT

EE FI

EU

25 PT

CZ

UK

LU ES

SK FR

HU SI

SE

NL

DK

DE

BE

AT

perc

ent

Women and people over 55 are less eager to start a business than men and young people

Source: Flash Eurobarometer 192, December 2006 - Janu ary 2007

Base: those who did not answer „self-employed“

How desirable is it for you to become self-employed within the next 5 years? Comparison between socio-economic groups

30 33 2751 41 28 13

66 62 6946 57 68

80

4 4 5 4 4 4 2

020406080

100

EU25 Men Women 15-24 25-39 40-54 55+

perc

ent

Don't know / No answerRather undesirable and not desirable at allVery and rather desirable

Over half of the youth is keen to follow an entre-preneurial route, particularly in new Member States


Base: those who did not answer „self-employed“

How desirable is it for you to become self-employed within the next 5 years?

62

57

51

30

34

42

46

66

4

2

4

4

0 20 40 60 80 100

NMS10 age 15-24

US age 15-24

EU age 15-24

Total EU

PercentVery and rather desirableRather undesirable and not desirable at allDont' know and no answer

Obstacles

• Administrative procedures to start-up

• Lack of finance

• Wealth of legal requirements on businesses, products and services (bureaucracy)

• Personal financial uncertainties

� Bureaucracy and Finances

Digging deeper

• Inertia

• Lack of self confidence

• Doubts in own skills

• Too long working hours

• Dont have a business idea

• Fear of Failure

� Mindset / Attitude

So why do it?

• Personal independence• Self-fullfillment• Freedom to chose place and time of working• Better income perspectives• A business opportunity

• � Opportunity Entrepreneurship

More people in 2007 than in 2004 see the chance to start up a business as an opportunity


Base: those who prefer to be „self-employed“

Did you start / are you starting your business because you saw an opporunity or you started

it out of necessity?

58 56 56 48

27 32 28 33

10 9 12 165 3 4 3

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

EU15-2007

EU15-2004

NMS10-2007

NMS10-2004

perc

ent

Don't know / no answer

Both

You started it becauseyou came accross anecessity

You started it becauseyou came accross anopportunity

Entrepreneurship Types

Source : (GEM) Adult Population Survey and IMF

The Current Situation : Summary

The status re. Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Europe is quite varied

Entrepreneurship should be seen in a broadsense

The actual start-up decision is a verycomplex phenomenon

What is the SBA?

• A set of politically binding principles• A package of concrete measures (legislative and non-

legislative)• An implementation mechanism embedded in the

Lisbon strategy / Europe 2020

in order to

1. Improve the overall policy approach to entrepreneurship

2. Irreversibly anchor the “Think Small First” principl e in policy-making

3. Promote SMEs’ growth by helping them tackle the remaining problems

10 politically binding principles

1. Create an environment for entrepreneurs and family businesses to thrive and entrepreneurship to be rewarded

2. Ensure that honest entrepreneurs who have faced bankruptcy quickly get a second Chance

3. Design rules according to the “Think Small First”principle

4. Make public administrations responsive to SMEs’ needs

5. Facilitate SMEs’ participation in Public Procurement and better use State Aid possibilities for SMEs

10 politically binding principles (ctd.)

6. Facilitate SMEs’ access to finance and support timely payments in commercial transactions

7. Help SMEs to benefit more from the opportunities offered by the Single Market

8. Promote the upgrading of skills in SMEs and all forms of innovation

9. Enable SMEs to turn environmental challenges into opportunities

10. Encourage and support SMEs to benefit from the growth of markets

Legislative measures

• General Block Exemption Regulation on State Aids (GBER)

• Regulation providing for a Statute for a European Private Company (SPE)

• Directive on reduced VAT rates (locally supplied services)

• A legislative proposal to simplify rules on VAT invoicing

• An amendment to the Late Payments Directive

Non legislative measures

• “SME test” to analyse impact of legislation on SMEs and specific measures for SMEs

• “Erasmus” for young entrepreneurs and for apprentices• Improved access to standards• Easier access to finance: EIB funds for mezzanine

finance and micro-credit• Code of best practices on SMEs access to Public

Procurement • SME Week• EU network of female entrepreneurs Ambassadors• Facilitating access to markets including EU Business

Centres in China & India

Implementation mechanism

� 42 actions for the Commission � 51 actions for the Member States

to be implemented and followed-up through

• Update of the Lisbon cycle planned for SBA part of National Reform Programmes

• Regular assessment made by the Commission of the progress made at EU and national level

��European Council has adopted and endorsed the SBA actions

17

• 50% of companies in the EU innovatedin the period 2006-2008

• BUT: turnover from innovative products = 10% of the total turnover of enterprises engaged in innovation activity

• Too few SMEs innovate & grow

• But research is not all: 46% of innovating enterprises did so without R&D

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EU economy needs more innovation

18

Regional Innovation Scoreboard - 2009See: http://www.proinno-europe.eu/page/regional-innovation-scoreboard

… too few innovative regions

… societal challenges are not only threats, but also opportunities

• Climate change

• Health and ageing

• Natural resources

• Energy security

• Clean transport

• Land use

• ….

• Powerfuldrivers of changein economy and society

• Major global marketopportunities

• RequiringEU-scale approaches• Fromresearch to market

New needs �� new ideas �� new markets

Skills, Creativity, Mobility, Flexibility,

Adaptability, etc.Human Capital

MarketInternal Market & global,

consumers, industry & public sector

Research, technologies, methods, know-how, market knowledge, etc.Knowledge

FinancePrivate & public sourcesFor enterprises of all sizes & development stages

EnterprisesBusiness innovation• IPR too expensive

• Lack of technology transfer

• Lack of business R&D

investments

• Lack of skills

,

mobility &

excellence

• No attractiv

e for

international ta

lents

•• Lack of joint mobilisation of actors & budgetsLack of joint mobilisation of actors & budgets•• Lack of Lack of ““ smart specialisationsmart specialisation ”” of innovation of innovation

national & regional strategiesnational & regional strategies

• Inadequate

financial in

struments

• fragmented Venture

Capital

• Intangible assets?

• Critical m

ass?

• Insufficient public

procurement of

innovation

• Standardisation sub-

optimal

• Innovation pull of

regulation?

Lack of innovative,

high-growth firms

Innovation Union: Concept & IssuesInnovation Union: Concept & Issues

• Strategic approach� Partnership with Member States� Comprehensive: fromidea to market

• Tackling weaknesses� Under-investment � Fragmentation � Framework conditions

• Building on strengths� Focus on societal challenges� Broad conceptof innovation� Involving all actors

Innovation Union webInnovation Union web--site: site: http://http://ec.europa.euec.europa.eu/innovation/innovation--union/union/

Innovation Union: Approach

EU activities in Entrepreneurship Education

• Education for Entrepreneurship, especially in primary and secondary schools

• Student Mini-companies in Secondary Education

• Commission Communication• Oslo conference and Oslo Agenda • Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, especially in

non-business studies.• Entrepreneurship inVocational Training• High Level Reflection Panels• Call for proposals onOslo Agenda implementation

• European Entrepreneurship Summer Academies

To enterprise

Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to t urn ideas into action.

It includes� creativity, � innovation and � risk acceptance, � as well as the ability to plan and manage projectsin order to achieve objectives.

This • supports everyone in day-to-day life at home and in society,• makes employees more aware of the context of their work and better able to seize

opportunities, • and provides a foundation for entrepreneurs establishing a social or commercial

activity

(Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning COM(2005)548)

What is “Entrepreneurship Education” ?

� To develop personal attributes and horizontal skills: creativity, initiative, risk-taking, autonomy, self-confidence, leadership, team-working…..

� Awareness of self-employment and entrepreneurship as possible career options

� Early contact with the world of business

� Learning by doing: work on concrete projects (e.g. students running mini-companies)

� Specific business skills: how to start and run successfully a company.

Skills acquired

• Running a business meeting• Leadership

• Sales techniques• Taking calculated risk

• Raising finance• Problem-solving

• Drafting a business plan • Taking initiative

• Developing market research• Self-confidence

• Financial literacy• Communication

• Basic economics• Team working

Business skills:Personal skills:

Policy Approach

� Bring together evidence based on projects carried out by Commission and Member States.

� Highlight that good practice can be found in Europe: the challenge lies in spreading existing positive examples.

� Support Member States in developing a more systematic strategy.

Share of secondary schools participating in Mini-company programmes

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Belgium

Czech

Rep

ublic

Denmar

kGer

many

Eston

iaFra

nce

Ireland

Latvi

aLith

uania

Luxem

bourg

Hungar

yAustr

iaPolan

dFin

land

Sweden UK

Norway

Participation and impact

• More than 200.000 secondary school studentsinvolved every year.

• Typically, less than 15 % of secondary schoolsoffer these activities.

• Research in Sweden and Norway:20% of participants go on to create their own company

Some good practice examples• Finland: the entrepreneurship strategy was jointly

developed by different ministries and organisations

• Luxembourg: the programme for all primary schools has a section on starting up a business based on a cartoon

• Spain: in Asturias, secondary school students run import-export mini-companies as part of the regional curriculum

• Netherlands and UK: government funded pilot projects in schools, then disseminated resulting good practice

• Austria : Economics and Technical University carrying out joint business case seminars

The Oslo Agenda forEntrepreneurship Education in Europe

• A detailed catalogue of 47 initiatives, based on successful experiences in Europe

• Stakeholders can pick actions at the appropriate level

• Relevant actors are indicated for each one of the proposed actions

Oslo Agenda Actions (1)

Framework for policy development:1. Ensure political support at the high level

2. Better integrate Entrepreneurship Education into the Lisbon monitoring process

3. Set up a European-wide framework of objectives4. Launch national strategies 5. Create Steering Groups: European and national6. Ensure coordination at EU level in the evaluation


Support to Educational Establishments:

1. Integrate entrepreneurship in curriculum

2. Commission to support curricular reforms

3. Support the use of practice-based tools

4. Ensure sustained funding/support

5. Build European and national platforms for exchange

6. Develop research to assess the impact


Support to Teachers and Educators:

1. Attach training to teachers to curriculum reforms

2. Adopt innovative methods to train teachers

3. Set-up incentives at school level to enable teachers

4. Support the mobility of educators across Europe


Entrepreneurship in Schools and in H.E.I.

1. Raise awareness of the role of entrepreneurs

2. Introduce innovative pedagogies into all courses

3. Test entrepreneurial competences of students

4. Link students to companies and business people

5. Allow and support the spontaneous initiative of student associations

6. Engage alumni in the in the activitiesactivities


Entrepreneurship in Schools and H.E.I. (2)

1. Integrate entrepreneurship across different subjects

2. Bring entrepreneurs into the classroom, and involve students in enterprise projects

3. Increase the production of European case studies

4. Give entrepreneurship more academic esteem

5. Embed evaluation into all programmes


Building links and opening education to the outside world:

1. Encourage the creation of learning communities

2. Businesses to donate a part of the working time of staff to activities in school / university

3. Create label for “entrepreneurial schools” and “entrepreneurial universities”

4. Establish entrepreneurship Centres at a local level


Communication activities:

1. Launch awareness campaigns: EU, national and regional level

2. Celebrate entrepreneurship programmes that work well

3. Establish awards to acknowledge enterprises that donate funds and time

EE in Higher Education – Study

Programs and activities aiming to foster entrepreneurial mindsets, attitudes and skills among higher education students

Different levels examined: undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate

All fields of study, with a special focus on non-business disciplines

Objectives

• Obtain an overview of the situation in European HEIs

• Gather information on teaching methods in use

• Identify good practice and concrete examples

• Analyze factors of success and main obstacles

• Highlight the role of public policies and identify measures of support

• Promote the exchange of experiences

• Draw conclusions and propose action

Overview

• Entrepreneurship is not sufficiently integrated in the curriculum of HEIs

• The majority of entrepreneurship courses are offered in business and economic studies

• The diffusion of entrepreneurship is particularly weak in some of the Member States that joined the EU in and after 2004

• Comprehensive data available with the results of the EC survey on the Intranet

Benchmark – Teaching & Learning

0

20

40

60

80

100Courses

Degrees

CurriculumTeaching methods

Extra-curricula activities

Top10

Bottom10

Average all

Main barriers

Good Practice criteria in delivery

• Definition of objectives and capacity to measure related outcomes

• Teaching makes use of inter-active methods

• Activities and events are organized, team-work

• Entrepreneurs and business people are involved

• Support mechanisms for students’ start-ups are in place and actively used

• Exchanges of ideas and experiences between teachers and students from different countries

Problems/Obstacles

• Shortage of funding

• Too few professors of entrepreneurship

• Little incentive and reward for teachers

• Faculties and departments tend to work separately

• Need for more flexibility in course design

Problems/Obstacles (2)

• Problems related to intellectual property rights

• Mobility between HEIs and business is low

• Few entrepreneurs are engaged in the full curricula experience

• HEIs are not sufficiently involved with their alumni

Actions: Public authorities

� Establish a task force, devise a coherent strategy

� Adopt favorable legislation, with financial means

� Contribute to an accreditation system to validate informal learning and practical enterprise activities

� Awards for entrepreneurial universities and students

� Create Regional Centers for coordination, organization and promotion

Actions: HEIs

� Set up a strategy or action plan

� Create an entrepreneurial hub

� Offer introduction to entrepreneurship to all, and opportunities to follow more specific courses

� Set up incentives to motivate and reward staff

� Develop clear rules for intellectual property

� Encourage the spontaneous initiative of students

� Award credits for activities and practical work

Teaching Tools

• Gap between methods applied and those that are seen as the most effective

• Experience-based methods are crucial: traditional pedagogies (lectures) are not the most effective

• Most effective methods indicated: group techniques for new business ideas, case studies, business planning workshops

• Essential elements: crossing boundaries between disciplines, and multi-disciplinary collaboration

Actions: Public authorities

� Establish a task force, devise a coherent strategy

� Adopt favorable legislation, with financial means

� Contribute to an accreditation system to validate informal learning and practical enterprise activities

� Awards for entrepreneurial universities and students

� Create Regional Centers for coordination, organization and promotion

Actions: HEIs

� Set up a strategy or action plan

� Create an entrepreneurial hub

� Offer introduction to entrepreneurship to all, and opportunitiesto follow more specific courses

� Set up incentives to motivate and reward staff

� Employ more interactive teaching methods

� Support more mobility between HEIs and business

� Encourage the spontaneous initiative of students

� Award credits for activities and practical work

� Increase active involvement of Alumni

EEHLRP Deliverables

� Current state of play: especially the development of strategies and their implementation

� A framework for strategy building, using a progression model.

� A 'cook book' of good practices which show how to address key areas within the progression model

� Recommendations for action at EU level to support developments within Member States.

Key Issues• High importance of involving teachers (�maintain a broad definition of Entrepreneurship)

� Shift from 'how to run a business' to how to develop a general set of competences applicable in all walks of life

•Develop research on how teachers approach E.E.

�Create and disseminate teaching contents, tools, methods and materials

Make entrepreneurship an integral part of the Curriculum:

• Key role for ministries of education

•Changes in education context: take students out of the classroom (into local community and real businesses)

Key Issues• Engage businesses:

� Visits, experiences, case studies and role models

� Student mini-companies with business mentors

•Link E.E. into local and regional strategies� Develop partnerships

� Build local and regional support centres

European Entrepreneurship Summer Universities

• One Week conference during summer

• Participants are Professurs for Entrepreneurship

• Exchange of Teaching methods

• Best Practice presentations� European Entrepreneurship Coloquium (EFER)

� European Entrepreneurship Educators Program (3EP)

� Still places available for 2011 and 2012

Picking the Winners isn‘t easy!

Not every dreamer is an achieverbut

Every achiever is a dreamer

Jan Mulfeit, Chairman Microsoft Europe

eu policy initiatives to foster more entrepreneurial start-ups · 2010. 12. 8. · forms of...

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