Brussels, 10/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Fédération des Entreprises de Belgique (FEB) is sponsoring, in cooperation with Unice (European employers) and under the patronage of King Albert II of Belgium, the first European Business Summit on "Innovation and Creativity". The summit will take place from 9 to 11 June 2000 in Brussels and will bring together more than 1,000 business leaders from all over Europe. Its principal objective is to create a dialogue between the public and private sectors (see EUROPE of 24 September 1999, page 17). The summit also enjoys the patronage and support of the European Parliament, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, the Brussels-Capital Region and the Mayor of Brussels François-Xavier de Donnéa, as well as the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) and Growth Plus (the voice of small and medium-sized enterprises).
The organisers note that this first European Business Summit is unique in that it will bring together two milieux that rarely work together, namely enterprises and the European institutions. It is also noteworthy because of its interactive nature, given its intention of establishing a real dialogue between participants, explained organisers of the event at a press conference in Brussels. The Forum will be organised around four clusters of workshops addressing the following subjects: 1) the four pathways to innovation; 2) exploration of new markets; 3) transforming the legal and regulatory framework; 4) mobilising key inputs to innovate. The results of the work of these four clusters of workshops will then be incorporated into a recommendation to be forwarded to President Romano Prodi. Patrizio Pesci (of the Confindustria delegation) observed at the press conference that this European Business Forum was being held simultaneously with the European Football Championship and Brussels 2000, European City of Culture, thus "offering interesting synergies".
Announced speakers, in addition to President Prodi, include European Commissioners Michel Barnier (regional policy), Philippe Busquin (research), Loyola de Palacio (transport), Anna Diamantopoulou (social affairs), Franz Fischler (agriculture), Pascal Lamy (commerce), Erkki Liikanen (information society), Christopher Patten (external relations), Viviane Reding (education) and Michaele Schreyer (budget).
Contact: Wouter Vermeulen, FEB/VBO in Brussels. Tel: 515 08 77. Fax: 515 09 15. E-mail: wv@vbo-feb.be. The full programme, list of speakers and registration form are available on Internet: http://www.ebsummit.org .