Europe's small and medium enterprises meet in Bilbao for the SME Assembly

The Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the Council are officially opening the 2023 SME Assembly, the most significant annual event for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.

The 2023 SME assembly takes place in Bilbao, Spain, with some participants also joining online, and will last until Wednesday 15 November. The event forms part of the EU SME week, which sees additional events taking place around Europe as part of a pan-EU campaign to promote entrepreneurship and offer support to encourage people to set up their own businesses.

As part of the programme of the SME Assembly, Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market, will join the event online on Tuesday morning to open a series of high-level panels, interviews and roundtables, which can be followed here.

The discussions of the day will aim to stimulate Europe's companies and equip them with the right tools for the transition towards sustainability and digitalisation. The official opening will be preceded by the prestigious Schumpeter Lecture on Monday evening, which is delivered every year by a leading innovation figure and will be presented this year by Sara Sarasvati, a remarkable scholar, entrepreneur, and advocate for entrepreneurship. During the SME Assembly, the Commission will also present the annual Europe Enterprise Promotion Awards on Tuesday evening, which reward outstanding local and regional initiatives supporting entrepreneurs. The event will also welcome the announcement of the 2023 Small and Mid-Cap awards for excellent EU SMEs that have undergone successful Initial Public Offerings, which will be presented on Tuesday by the Commission, European Issuers and the Federation of European Securities Exchanges. 

Following the end of the SME assembly on Wednesday, Bilbao will also host the annual conference of the Enterprise Europe Network, which will gather over 3,000 experts from around Europe and beyond, to celebrate the Network's 15^th anniversary and discuss the future of Europe's SMEs.