Brussels, 11/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The 4th European Conference on crafts and small enterprises, hosted by the European Commission on the 16-17th of April in Stuttgart (Germany), will focus specially on the enormous importance of these companies. Crafts and small enterprises are the beating heart of local communities and the Union's most promising source of new jobs, innovation, economic dynamism and greater social inclusion. Presently companies with less than 10 employees are producing more than 20% of the European added value, and offer jobs for around 50 million citizens in the European Union. Among the speakers at Stuttgart are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the EU Council, Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen, Michael Glos, German Minister for Economics and Technology, and Günther H. Oettinger, Prime Minister of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg. For further information: http: //ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/4th_conference.htm. (ol)