News From the European Union
Entirely submitted by Daniel Schaubacher
EBBF participated in the European Commission Responsible Entrepreneurship Conference, May 3 in Brussels. It was a good opportunity for George Starcher, EBBF President and Daniel Schaubacher to network with dozens of actors in the European Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability scene. George raised the gender issue in a plenary debate, suggesting that women perform as catalysts of change in enterprise. The evening before, George spoke on work ethics and the role of women in business at Concetta and Dale Emerson's home to some twenty business people, students and European commission civil servants. Here is the EC report on the successful May 3 Responsible Entrepreneurship Exchange staged by the Directorate General Enterprise of the European Commission
Brussels, 3rd May 2007
Responsible entrepreneurship: Small enterprises, big values, tomorrow's competitiveness
It is not often that teenagers from Estonia address major European events on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Looking at the link between entrepreneurship, values, and responsibility, the Responsible Entrepreneurship Exchange broke new ground in exploring the natural synergies between responsible business behaviour on the one hand and the dynamic world of entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises on the other. The tone was set by the managers of Volli, an Estonian student company that makes wallets from recycled fruit cartons and won the 2006 HP Responsible Business Award for young people. The event provides a platform for the launch of an important new European report entitled “Opportunity and Responsibility: how to get more small businesses to integrate social and environmental issues into what they do.”
Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen pointed out: “CSR is about opportunity and new ideas. It helps to build trust between enterprises and citizens and so contribute to a more business friendly environment. This is for their own benefit and for the wider benefit of society as a whole. Therefore, responsible behaviour by enterprises is an important part of the recipe for growth and jobs in Europe.”
CSR is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations on a voluntary basis. The term itself tends to be associated with large companies, but some of the most innovative and inspiring examples of CSR are to be found amongst smaller businesses. The report argues for improvements in the quality and quantity of initiatives to support the concept of responsible entrepreneurship amongst small and medium-sized enterprises.
Attended by some 450 persons, the Responsible Entrepreneurship Exchange provides a unique opportunity to learn from some 30 organisations that have successfully worked with small businesses to help to get the most out of CSR. Amongst them was the Municipality of Rome, which in 2006 won the Responsible Entrepreneurship category of the inaugural European Enterprise Awards. Advising start-ups and micro enterprises on how to take account of social and environmental questions, the programme has contributed to local development and helped to create 3000 new jobs. Also presented was an EU-funded initiative by the University of Girona (Spain) which is developing a model to capture the links between innovation and social responsibility in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen opened the event together with MEP Thomas Mann, Hans-Werner Müller, Secretary-General of UEAPME, and Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary-General of EUROCHAMBRES. They were joined by entrepreneurs, academics, business advisors and representatives from organisations such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise.
The report “Opportunity and Responsibility: how to get more small businesses to integrate social and environmental issues into what they do” is the work of the European Expert Group on Corporate Social Responsibility and SMEs. It is a significant new contribution to the European debate on CSR, and should lead to more and better support for entrepreneurs and SMEs in the field of responsible entrepreneurship.
More information
Report on JADE European Confederation of Jr Enterprise Presidents' Conference, March 1-4, Brussels
JADE, the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises, which is one of the world's largest network of junior and student entrepreneurs with 20,000 members in 31 countries, staged its annual Presidents' Conference, March 1-4, in Brussels. I was invited to deliver the keynote address at the opening session, at the ING Bank's auditorium, on "Responsible Entrepreneurship - Making a Difference". 120 student entrepreneurs from all over Europe participated in this motivational and training event whose agenda included internal elections and excellence awards for the “Most innovative project”, the “Most entrepreneurial Junior Enterprise”, and “Most engaged Junior Entrepreneur”. On March 2, I gave a 2 1/2 hour interactive workshop, with three case studies, on "Values-based Leadership and CSR".
For the third consecutive year, I am honoured to represent EBBF on JADE's Advisory Board A breakfast meeting of the board took place in the early morning of March 2, at JADE's European executive board's office and housing building in the populous St. Josse ten Node Brussels district. It was attended by Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary General of Eurochambres, Tony Long, Director of the WWF European Policy Office, Lawrence Baker of the Baker & McKenzie Law Offices in Paris, and Natascha Waltke, Senior Advisor at BusinessEurope. It was hosted by Linh Ta Cam, (from the Netherlands) this year's Vice President for External Affairs, Johannes Weissmann (from Bavaria), President, and Agustin Rosa (from Portugal) Treasurer and Event Manager; these young people are giving one year to serve JADE at its headquarters in Brussels. This meeting provided a good opportunity of discussing JADE - which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, its coming events and future programs. Contributions are being sought for a JADE conference in October and JADE's activities. See here I plan to continue to advise JADE's executive board on events, topics and programs of interest to this network of skilled young student entrepreneurs. Even though JADE officers change every year, the continuity which permeates JADE's enthuisiasm and strategy in promoting entrepreneurship in Europe is remarkable.
The response of these motivated student entrepreneurs was heart warming. Be it from Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Portugal even my home country Switzerland, and the host country, Belgium, they expressed a keen interest in values expounded by EBBF. A Paderborn young entrepreneur, running Campus Consult, stayed on after the Friday workshop to tell me that he is a practicing Christian and wants to join an organization in Germany promoting our values. The preceding night, at the conference gala dinner, toward midnight, as I was already physically worn out, the president of the Jade UK branch (originally from Bulgaria) came to the head table to chat about the keynote presentation I gave earlier that day. Back home in Edinburgh on Monday morning, she wrote me : "It was a pleasure to meet you at the JADE Meeting in Brussels last weekend. As I said before, I was very inspired by your presentation and I am looking forward to meeting you again so we can discuss further. Best regards from Edinburgh, Desi."
