European Commission

Ready to meet more projects competing in the 2020 European Enterprise Promotion Award finals?

Today we are meeting the shortlisted projects competing in Category 4: Supporting the internationalisation of business. Our 2020 finalists come from Belgium, Portugal and Ukraine. These projects focus on supporting national projects and industries, and helping them get into international markets. This year’s finalists are diverse and focus on offering international activities and opportunities to Belgian SMEs to give them international exposure, helping to support and establish the Portuguese bicycle industry in the European supply chain, and making local and international export expertise available to Ukrainian companies to facilitate their entry onto international markets.

Belgium: Digital Wallonia International

Digital Wallonia International offers a programme of international activities, such as trade fairs, economic missions and festivals, to support the international development of Walloon digital companies and increase the international visibility and presence of the Walloon digital sector. The initiative has rolled out a network of ten hubs in cities and regions with a high level of digital innovation to give digital startups and companies a primary point of contact for information to help accelerate the growth of their business. To date, more than 360 digital companies and startups have participated in 75 international events proposed by the project.

Portugal: Portugal Bike Value 

Portugal Bike Value is working to support and promote the potential of the Portuguese bicycle industry, establishing it as a player in the European supply chain. It is also promoting Portugal as a destination for foreign investment in the area of Soft Mobility. The initiative’s efforts saw exports to more 50 destinations on all continents increase from EUR 226 million in 2011 to EUR 402 million in 2019, including a 22% increase between 2018 and 2019. By investing in cleaner technologies that have a reduced environmental footprint, Portugal Bike Value is also helping to support the European Green Deal.

Ukraine: Nationwide educational program “Export R|Evolution Ukraine”

Export R|Evolution Ukraine is a nationwide educational programme that leverages the experience of the best experts in their field. The programme shares international and local expertise on export operations with Ukrainian companies. Over a three-year period, Export R|Evolution Ukraine trained more than 2 300 people from every region in the country on how to maximize their export potential. Over 75% of the participating companies confirmed that their exports increased as a result. Export sales by participating companies grew on average by 3.6 mln UAH per year after participating in the programme.

Be sure to read about the EEPA 2020 Special Mentions and the finalists for Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit, Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills, and Improving the business environment and don’t forget to come back every week to meet more EEPA 2020 finalists!

Want to watch the EEPA 2020 finals? Register for the SME Assembly 2020 and secure your place.

The European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) jury is made up of members representing the European Commission, business associations, academia, the current European presidencies and the last Grand Jury Prize winner.

The EEPA jury has the difficult task of selecting which national winners will make it onto the European shortlist, as well as the projects that will go on to win each respective category and the prestigious Grand Jury Prize.

Each year the jury sees experienced returning members, like EEPA jury chair Kristin Schreiber, Thomas Wobben, Professor Thomas Cooney and Anke Wiegand, as well as new faces. Today on the News Portal we are meeting this year’s new members.

The first new jury member for the 2020 edition is Ms Sabine Hepperle, who is Head of the Directorate-General at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs & Energy in Germany. She also previously served as head of Berlin’s promotional trade programme and headed the Representation of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Brussels. Ms. Hepperle will be representing the German presidency on this year’s jury.

“A winning EEPA project is one that is unique and innovative. It should also have a significant impact on the local business environment. In times of COVID-19 we particularly need innovative and successful projects, which are transferrable to other regions and countries. While evaluating the EEPA projects, I have especially looked at the local impact of the projects as well as on the benefit the projects have on SMEs.”

Our next new member is new to the EEPA jury but not to the SME Assembly, Mr Ben Butters, Deputy CEO of EUROCHAMBRES, will also be joining this year’s EEPA jury. Ben has covered a wide range of issues that are of relevance to chambers of commerce and the European business community, including the single market, SME policy, regulatory reform and skills. Before joining EUROCHAMBRES, he created and for several years ran his own business providing EU advocacy support to small business associations.

Finally our last new face on the EEPA 2020 jury is Mr Bastian Coes, Manager & Business Developer for GreenPAC iLab, the project that won the Grand Jury Prize at the EEPA finals in 2019. Mr Coes and his team impressed the jury with their project which supports new entrepreneurs in the plastics industry to help them start their businesses and achieve sustainable and circular business models.

“A great part of the success of our economy depends on a new generation of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who know how to adapt and can switch between different competences where creativity can make the difference. This creativity can be recognized in the great entries of  the various EEPA projects. They show the need for continuous investment in the entrepreneurs of the future. ”

Welcome to our new jury members! Don’t forget to read about our returning experienced jurors: Kristin Schreiber, Thomas Wobben, Professor Thomas Cooney and Anke Wiegand. The EEPA jury will be meeting soon to discuss and decide which projects will be on this year’s European shortlist so keep coming back to the News Portal and don’t miss the announcement.

Find out more about EEPA 2020 and read about specific updates to the 2020 edition from EEPA jury chair Kristin Schreiber here on the News Portal.

Being on the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) jury is an exciting yet difficult task. For 2020 we have already met two of our jurors, Kristin Schreiber and Thomas Wobben, but who else will be joining them this year to select the best project for the European shortlist?

Time to meet two more returning members of the EEPA 2020 jury!

Our first returning member of the EEPA jury today is Ms Anke Wiegand, who first lent her expertise to EEPA judging in 2019. Ms Wiegand is Head of Unit Innovation I Funding Financing for the Enterprise Europe Network Berlin Partner for Business and Technology. She joined last year’s jury and presented the Supporting the Development of Green Markets and Resource Efficiency award at the EEPA awards ceremony at the SME Assembly 2019 in Helsinki.

“Under the impression of this year’s pandemic, SMEs all over Europe came up with excellent ideas, digital skills and visions for sustainable, health and climate friendly solutions for the future. Support schemes need to adapt in order to encourage this spirit of resilience. My preferred EEPA projects will help and support these innovations to find their way into our societies.”

Another returning member of the EEPA 2020 jury brings significant experience to the role and has been a part of the EEPA jury for several years. Professor Thomas Cooney is a Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Dublin Institute of Technology, and Academic Director of the TU Dublin Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship. He is also a Director of four businesses, works in a supportive capacity with a variety of organisations and has published widely on the topic of entrepreneurship. As a member of the 2019 EEPA jury he presented the Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit award at the EEPA awards ceremony at the SME Assembly 2019 in Helsinki.

Welcome back to Anke Wiegand and Professor Thomas Cooney! Don’t forget to read about the first two jurors we introduced: Kristin Schreiber and Thomas Wobben, and make sure to come back to the News Portal to meet the remaining members of the 2020 jury: Mr Bastian Coes, Ms Sabine Hepperle and Mr Ben Butters.

Find out more about EEPA 2020 and read about specific updates to the 2020 edition from EEPA jury chair Kristin Schreiber here on the News Portal.

The European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) have moved into the next phase, the European level competition! Up until now the EEPA National Coordinators have been working hard to collect and select their top two national entries for the consideration of the EEPA 2020 Jury.

The EEPA 2020 Jury will now take the time to review all of the national winners and then collectively decide which projects they would like to include on their 2020 European shortlist. But who exactly are the EEPA 2020 Jury? Who are the people behind this important and difficult decision?

Time to meet two of our experienced jurors:

Coming back as our experienced EEPA Jury chair is Kristin Schreiber, Director for SME Policy & COSME, in the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, at the European Commission. Kristin has been involved in the SME Assembly and the EEPA judging process for many years, from hosting important SME Assembly keynote sessions and panels, leading the SME Envoy meetings, and chairing both the Youth Essay Competition and EEPA juries. This year we are welcoming her back once again to chair the EEPA 2020 jury and facilitate the final decisions.

Another veteran jury member who we are welcoming back is Mr Thomas Wobben, Director of the Directorate for Horizontal Policies and Networks at the Committee of the Regions. His responsibilities include monitoring the Europe 2020 strategy, relations with the OECD and Eurostat, and prospective works of the Committee of the Regions. Thomas presented the 2019 Special Mentions at the EEPA awards ceremony at the SME Assembly 2019 in Helsinki.

Welcome back to Kristin Schreiber and Thomas Wobben! Come back to the News Portal to meet the rest of the EEPA 2020 jury: Professor Thomas Cooney, Mr Bastian Coes, Ms Sabine Hepperle, Mr Ben Butters and Ms Anke Wiegand. Most importantly stay tuned for their decision in September on their choices for the 2020 European shortlist.

Find out more about EEPA 2020 and read about specific updates to the 2020 edition from EEPA jury chair Kristin Schreiber here on the News Portal.