Brussels, 01/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission together with the Irish Presidency's two-day Conference on the European Charter for Small Enterprises in Dublin finished on Wednesday in Dublin. Some 34 countries which subscribe to the Charter gathered together to exchange good practice in improving the environment for small businesses. The conference attracted some 250 participants, representing national, regional and local governments, business organisations and business support providers from EU Member States, candidate countries and the countries of the Western Balkans. The conference focused on the three Charter areas selected as priorities last year: (1) access to finance, in particular venture capital and micro loans, (2) innovation and technology transfer, and (3) consultation of small businesses.
Among the cases presented in Dublin were the Slovenian Enterprise Fund which helps young and new entrepreneurs to get loans and guarantees, the Shannon Region Knowledge Network which connects key technology locations in Ireland, and the Swedish Committees of Inquiry which assess the impact of policy proposals on small businesses. The conference also introduced the three new priority areas selected for this year's exercise: (1) Education for entrepreneurship, especially secondary education; (2) better regulation, especially bankruptcy law and impact assessment, and (3) skills shortages, especially measures to overcome the lack of skilled technicians and engineers. Conference website, including programme: (http: //http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/events/charter/index.htm ).