Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs consortium meeting at EASME

On the 4th of July, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated in the consortium meeting for the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) programme. This EC initiative that has been run by the Chamber for 3 years now has the objective to connect entrepreneurs across Europe and to promote the exchange of experiences among them.

The meeting took place at the premises of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME). The 9 partners of the consortium attended to the meeting as well as the EU officer managing the EYE programme. The chamber will be running the programme for 3 more years and this was an excellent opportunity to discuss the future strategy of the partners and the priority lines of actions.

The Chamber reaffirmed its intention to consolidate the EYE as a key programme for the organization. The Chamber has considerably increased its number of exchanges; a total of 4 were registered in 2016, 9 in 2017 and 14 during the first 6 months of 2018.

The European Commission (EC) launches EYE global; Singapore, Israel and USA are now new destinations for the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme

Last April the EC announced the official start of the EYE Global for the period 2018-2020. Three new destinations, USA (states of New York and Pennsylvania), Singapore and Israel, are now available for EU-residing New Entrepreneurs.

With these new destinations the EC broadens the list of participating countries; as from now candidates will be able to choose among 40 countries. This pilot project aims at offering the new entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from the experience of other entrepreneurs outside the European continent.

Some of the conditions for participating in the EYE Global differ from the current programme. As a local contact point in Belgium and Luxembourg, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce can guide you through the application process. Contact us now for further information: erasmus4youngentrepreneurs@e-camara.com.

Presentation of the Chamber at the University of Antwerp

On March 14th,María Catalán, the Secretary General of the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg, took part in the conference organized by the University of Antwerp.

The workshop was geared towards economics students. Maria Catalán presented bilateral trade data between Belgium and Spain and the role played by the Chamber for Spanish companies in Belgium.

Additionally, the Secretary General informed the students about the projects that the Chamber develops in relation with employment and entrepreneurship like the outstanding European program Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, for which the Chamber is a local  point in Belgium and whose objective is to promote the exchange of experiences among entrepreneurs in Europe.

21st Networking Meeting of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

The 6th and 7th of March took place in Brussels the “21st Networking Meeting of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” (EYE), where the different consortiums participating in the programme had the opportunity to learn about the future of the EYE programme and to interact and exchange best practices with different intermediary organisations.

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, as part of the of the programme since 2016, attended to this event. During the first day, different representatives from the European Commission (EC) unveiled future novelties that will be implemented in the programme. On the second day, a consortium meeting was organised to define the priority lines of actions for the coming year.

One of the main novelties announced by the EC is the initiative “EYE Global”, a pilot project that will allow 120 new entrepreneurs to do their exchange in countries such as Israel, Singapore and United States (specifically in the states of Pennsylvania and New York). This pilot project will be launched next May and will be in place for two years.

The other relevant announcement made by the EC representatives was the agreement on the continuity of the programme after 2021.  The EC is already working on the next programming period and the future of the programme has been guaranteed even though some modifications might be included.  The success of this programme after 7 years of implementation and its role in boosting entrepreneurial cooperation across Europe justifies the ambition of the EC to opt for the continuity of the programme.

The Chamber, local contact point for the Erasmus Young Entrepreneurs

During three months, our member Jorge Cisneros, from Swan Consulting SCS, has taken part of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Program as host entrepreneur for Razvan Rusu, a young entrepreneur who develops his own business idea in Romania, his home country.

The program allows, on one hand, Razvan to learn from a more experienced entrepreneur, and on the other hand, Jorge to count on a person who collaborates with him every day. As an example of their work together, last 16 and 17 of November they organized at the headquarters of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, a workshop on EU Funding and Project Management.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a free program of transnational exchanges, for which the Chamber is the local contact point in Belgium and Luxembourg.

For any further information: erasmus4youngentrepreneurs@e-camara.com.

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