On 19-20 October, the Enterprise Europe Network celebrated its first-ever e-Days, a virtual event that replaced the Network’s 2020 Annual Conference. The event was co-organised by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME).
It attracted around 1500 participants and included plenary sessions, thematic workshops and around 400 bilateral meetings between Network partners, showing the dedication and ability of the EEN to adapt its working methods.
Key topics were the future of the Network and its performance during the COVID-19 crisis, the sustainability and digital transitions, the best ways to support clients in seizing innovation opportunities under Horizon Europe, and internationalisation.
European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier, and Hubert Gambs, Deputy Director-General at DG GROW welcomed the participants with opening speeches. All three praised the work of the Network during the crisis.
Hubert Gambs said that “the Enterprise Europe Network has a valuable role to play across many of our programmes . (…) I promise you to ensure that you will have the necessary budget to provide relevant, modern, high quality support to SMEs all over Europe.”
Speaking about the future of the Network, Kristin Schreiber, the European Commission’s Director for SME policy at DG GROW, said:
"We are talking about an evolution, not a revolution. The need to support the transition to sustainability and digitalisation, as well as pursuing resilience at all levels, have become even more important with the COVID-19 crisis. The Network (…) is well-placed to contribute to the achievement of new policy priorities."
Luisa Prista, Acting Director at EASME, said:
"The Network has delivered impressive results in areas such as digitalisation or support to women entrepreneurs. We should now build on our strengths and focus our activities on new priorities and needs."
At the e-Days, the Network also announced the winner of the Resilience Award, which went to the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Zagreb and CCI - Nouvelle-Aquitaine. This award is a one-time special prize to highlight the stories of tenacity and adaptability of companies benefitting from the Network’s support during the crisis. The winners supported Vuplast d.o.o, a Croatian family-owned company that produces a water-soluble plastic bag for washing contaminated clothes.
The Network’s next Annual Conference is planned to take place in Stuttgart on 29 September – 1 October 2021.