Brussels, 08/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The names of the prize-winners for each of the five categories will be announced at the first SME assembly on 15 November in Cyprus.
The list of the 14 candidates for the 2012 European spirit of enterprise prize is now known. The initiative for supporting company start-ups in Belgium (pre-start-up phase aid for the creation of 200 new companies in Flanders), in Cyprus (encouragement of setting up companies by women), in the Netherlands (a spirit of enterprise programme for children aged 10-12), in the United Kingdom (a spirit of enterprise programme for disadvantaged groups of people) will remain on course for the prize awarded for the promotion of the spirit of enterprise. The Progress programme for the social economy and solidarity in France will be competing with a programme supporting the setting up of a digital visualisation platform in Sweden for the prize awarded for investment in vocational skills. An initiative to help companies experiencing difficulty in Denmark, an administrative simplification programme in Estonia and an advice and funding programme for SMEs in urban areas in Italy will all be competing for the prize awarded for enterprise environment improvement. An initiative to develop a global brand of wine in Portugal and a programme supporting the cross-border activities of women entrepreneurs in Slovakia are still in the race for international enterprise support prize. A support programme for people with disabilities at work in Turkey, a programme recognising the commitments of socially responsible entrepreneurship in Luxembourg, as well as an initiative for social responsibility of SMEs in Lithuania are still in the running for the responsible entrepreneurship and social integration prize. One of the projects will also be awarded the grand jury prize.
More than 402 projects from the 27 EU member states, in addition to Croatia, Serbia and Turkey competed for this year's European prize to promote the spirit of enterprise. Since 2006, this has been awarded for excellence in the promotion of entrepreneurship at national, regional and local levels. (EH/trans/fl)