Dozens of EU officials are set to benefit from one week of exposure to daily operations in small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs), to improve their understanding of the business environment. Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said the participants would be sent to countries throughout the EU, to ensure a balanced geographical coverage. He said: “‘Enterprise Experience’ is a project that brings European officials, senior officials in close contact with the reality of life: they can get their hands-on experience, on-the-job experience, how European regulations work in practice, how they affect the competitiveness of European companies.”

The officials will work in a broad variety of sectors, shadowing key personnel in various departments. This first stage involves sending out 50 officials from the Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, up to Easter time next year.

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