Brussels, 09/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - On the invitation of the Dutch Minister for the Economy, Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink, the Economy and/or Industry Ministers of the Member States will be taking pat, on Friday, in Noorwijk (the Netherlands) in a ministerial conference on "Knowledge and Innovation for the Competitiveness of Europe". Commissioner Erkki Likanen (Industry and information society), Frits Bolkestein (Internal Market) and Philippe Busquin (Research) will take part in this informal meeting chaired by the Portuguese Minister of the Economy, Joaquim Pina Moura. The morning will be devoted to a general discussion with representatives of business circles. Ministers will resume their talks behind closed doors in the afternoon after lunch at the European Space Research Centre and Technology Centre (which depends on the European Space Agency).
Commission Liikanen should take advantage of this meeting to place emphasis on "benchmarking" industrial policy. Among the contributions in discussions on the future entrepreneurial policy will also be a study entitled "the new economy: the European model" drawn up by the Special Advisor Charles Leadbeater at the request of Mr. Liikanen. This study emphasises the need for Europe to invest in the business capacity by (1) improving education (development of creative capabilities, and the team and enterprise spirit), (2) supporting access of the young in enterprise creation, (3) playing in favour of an entrepreneurial culture among women (4) developing its attractiveness for European talents that have left the continent as well as for human resources from other regions of the world. Commissioner Bolkestein will talks of measures to take to improve the legal environemnt of companies and create conditions favourable for electronic commerce.