Brussels, 29/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The results of a Eurobarometer inquiry into recruitment and employment procedures in 19 Member States among 4,000 one-person enterprises (OPE) show that one third of such enterprises do not recruit because of the non-wage costs of labour (social contributions and taxes by employers) and that over 10% of them are reticent about hiring because of all the red tape involved. There are many reasons why entrepreneurs do not wish to take employees on: in most cases, the companies are too small to justify recruitment, or those who are at the head of the company prefer to work alone. The results of the study show, moreover, that a large pool of jobs and growth could be exploited if reforms are carried out at legal and administrative levels. Results of the survey also show that there are considerable differences from one country to the next when it comes to administrative formalities for registering the first employee. The inquiry was conducted under the title of Best project launched in 2003 by the DG Enterprise at the European Commission with a report by a group of national experts, recommending that the administrative burden weighing on OPEs should be reduced. (The results of the inquiry are available at the following address: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/support_measures/first_emp/index.htm).