EU-functionarissen gaan beleid in de praktijk proeven bij kleine- en middelgrote organisaties (en)

EU officials will be leaving Brussels and their desks behind to spend one week gaining hands-on experience of life in a small or medium sized enterprise (SME) in various companies throughout Europe. 'Enterprise Experience’ is designed to give officials experience of the daily operations of European firms and so improve their understanding of the business environment in which these companies operate. The first wave of 50 officials will go to companies in Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain. The aim over a two year period, is to send trainees to countries across the EU, to ensure a balanced geographical coverage. The officials will work in SMEs from sectors such as aerospace, pharmaceuticals, restaurants/hotels, information technologies, machinery, chemicals and textiles, shadowing key personnel and gaining experience in various departments of the company. After a successful pilot phase in 2005/early 2006, (IP/06/996) the European Commission is today formally launching the first wave of this programme.

Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: "This 'Enterprise Experience' training operation is a first of its kind for the Commission and is something to which I attach great importance. I will myself take part in the exercise and I look forward to sharing the experience with my staff and to drawing conclusions from it together with them. A better understanding of the needs of SMEs and a better appreciation of business-specific problems is also part of the Better Regulation initiative and of our determination to improve the quality lawmaking. This is yet another demonstration of this Commissions' commitment to jobs and growth in Europe. The keyword is action and this means action at every level."

This first stage involves sending out 50 officials from its Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry up to Easter 2007. Half of the placements have already been arranged and the remaining ones will be finalised by the end of the year. From 2007 (when the numbers will rise), the visits will be organised in three main "waves” during the year to facilitate organisational arrangements. By 2009 all of the 350 or so administrators (AD staff) in DG Enterprise should have spent a week in an SME.

The Commission is working in close cooperation with three business organisations – UNICE (Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe), UEAPME (European Association of Craft, Small and Medium Seized Enterprises) and EUROCHAMBRES (Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry). It is these organisations (not the Commission) that draw up the list of potential host companies. The following criteria apply: