EUROPEAN BUSINESS SUMMIT

 

Enterprise Europe, Brussels, 2 March 2004 – Research and innovation top the bill at the third edition of the European Business Summit (EBS), an annual event designed to foster dialogue between Europe’s business leaders and political decision-makers.

Following the success of the first two summits, the European Commission, UNICE (the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Federations of Europe) and the FEB (Federation of Belgian Enterprises) have decided to focus the 2004 Summit, held in Brussels, from 11 to 12 March, on the theme “Research and innovation: a European strategy for more growth and jobs”.

Participants include high-level representatives from industry, academy, public authorities and the European Commission. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society will be attending sessions assessing challenges for European business in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and in ICT.

European SMEs will also be especially interested in two free-access sessions in the afternoon of Friday 12 March. The first deals with innovation, so vital for any company needing to become or stay competitive in today’s global environment. The Commission’s new Innovation Action Plan, which places the enterprise at the centre of European innovation policy, will be outlined during this session to accompany the launch of the public consultation on the Action Plan.

The second session looks at the way small businesses can benefit from the sixth Framework Programme, the main instrument for research at Community level. Participation in research projects and exploitation of their results potentially make European SMEs more innovative and help them to identify new niche markets.

For more information on the European Business Summit, see www.ebsummit.org.

To register for either of the two free-access sessions, send an e-mail to ebs3@vbo-feb.be with your participant’s first and family names, company and e-mail address.