The 2012 EER region Catalonia will officially launch its EER programme on 13 and 14 June 2012. The title of 'European Entrepreneurial Region' gives the government of Catalonia a major opportunity to raise awareness on the backbone function of SMEs in the region as well as the European economy and also highlights the role of SMEs in economic recovery in Catalonia.

The event will be held within the framework of BizBarcelona which brings together entrepreneurial capital and stakeholders from across the region. The first day will focus primarily on how a multilevel approach can benefit entrepreneurship throughout Europe's regions. ACC1Ó, the main business support provider in the region and member of the Enterprise Europe Network, strongly supports entrepreneurial activity in the region but it also brings together businesses from across Europe. Other EER regions have also been invited to catalyse the strong potential of their respective projects and to strengthen ties between the regions in order to develop common projects. Furthermore, entrepreneurs from the EER 2011 regions of Brandenburg and Murcia, Catalonia and Helsinki-Uusimaa (EER 2012) will participate in the B2B event organised during the second day of the conference.

As part of its EER activities, Catalonia also prepares a visit of a delegation of entrepreneurs from Helsinki-Uusimaa to the region and, in November 2012 Catalonia will be engaged in the Global Entrepreneurship week (http://www.gewspain.es/global).

The programme of the kick off:

13 June: business model workshop with the EER regions
14 June: B2B event / competition with entrepreneurs from the EER regions – in cooperation with the INLEA Foundation

Further information: cor.europa.eu/eer