Brussels, Belgium, March 30, 2009 – A delegation of YES-European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs met this morning the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, Mr. Günter Verheugen to discuss the current condition of the business environment within the European Union.

  

The delegation was composed by Martin Ohneberg, President of YES, Lutfu Kucuk, Vice-President of YES and President of TUGIAD, Young Businessmen Association of Turkey, Ivan Sempere Massa, Vice-President of YES and Vice-President of AJE, Spanish Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs, Suat Lemi Sisik, Director General of YES and Chiara De Caro, Coordination Manager of YES.

 

After having introduced the activities, principles and objectives of the Confederation, the representatives of YES had the opportunity to discuss problems of SMEs and industry in Europe such as the lack of private equity and venture capitalist industry and the lack of culture of failing in business.

 

The YES representatives and the Commissioner also agreed on the importance of entrepreneurship education as a prerequisite for a more entrepreneurial oriented society and on the important role that should be played by policy makers in creating a more favorable environment for business.

 

The issue of the difficulty of obtaining VISA that some of the acceding countries are facing was brought into the discussion and all the participants agreed on the fact that the advantages deriving from the Internal Market should be maximised. Importance of compliance to the European Court of Justice decisions in a timely manner by the Member States, in issues promoting free and fair trade within the Union and the Customs Union has been underlined.

 

During the meeting a paper on “Young Entrepreneurs facing the financial crisis”, summarizing the views of YES Members on these issues was submitted to the Commissioner.

Download the press release

Download the paper "Young Entrepreneurs facing the financial crisis”