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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Entrepreneurship education

Launched in 2016 as part of the New Skills Agenda for Europe, the Commission established a European entrepreneurship competence framework (EntreComp). It intends to support and inspire actions to improve the entrepreneurial capacity of European citizens and organisations.

The European entrepreneurship competence framework

The European entrepreneurship competence framework (EntreComp) creates a shared understanding of the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to become entrepreneurial, while at the same time emphasising that entrepreneurship is a competence that all citizens should have the opportunity to develop. The framework also aims at creating a common language between different levels of education and training, as well as bridging the worlds of education and work.

EntreComp recognizes the opportunity to be entrepreneurial in any situation: from school curriculum to innovating in the workplace, from community initiatives to applied learning at university. The entrepreneurship competence is thus recognised as a competence for life, relevant to personal development and fulfilment, finding and progressing in employment, as well as initiating new ventures ranging from community campaigns, social enterprises to new start-up businesses. Consequently, the competences described in EntreComp are not necessarily directly linked to founding/running a company, but refer to the entrepreneurial mindset (such as spotting opportunities, vision, ethical and sustainable thinking, valuing ideas, motivation and perseverance, mobilising resources, learning through experience, planning and management etc.).

Being creative or thinking about how to do things in new ways is equally relevant to progressing one’s career or coming up with new business ideas. Taking the initiative, mobilising others and getting them on board with one’s idea are useful skills when fundraising for a local sports team, or establishing a new social enterprise. Understanding how to put a plan into action and using finances wisely are relevant for one’s own life and for business planning in a small or medium-sized company (SME).

To promote the implementation of EntreComp as the main policy instrument for entrepreneurial competences and skills development, we are running several projects whose goal is to support the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems. These projects focus on acquiring and enhancing entrepreneurial competences as well as creating the following EntreComp communities of practice.

You can keep up to date and follow EntreComp on Twitter @EntreCompEurope.

The new skills agenda

The New Skills Agenda outlines the skills needed for the twin transitions toward a more digital and greener economy, as well as the actions intended to increase STEM graduates, foster entrepreneurial and transversal skills, and help all citizens acquire skills for life.

More on New Skills Agenda

Six peer-learning workshops

These workshops are part of a peer-learning project on entrepreneurship education and women entrepreneurship, organised through a service contract benefitting from COSME funding. The overall objective is to connect different public and private stakeholders that implement EntreComp in different countries and facilitate the exchange of experiences as well as the development of concrete actions and strategies promoting entrepreneurial learning.

More on peer-learning project

Two projects on Entrecomp and creating communities

Two projects encouraging the systemic use of EntreComp and the creation of communities of practice have been awarded, with COSME funding, for the period 2020-2023.

The overall goal is to support the full-speed development of the entrepreneurship competences at local, regional and national level, including for instance through new policy strategies and initiatives, substantial curricula reform, the establishment of durable national, regional or local networks, strategic partnerships between different sectors etc. This initiative will help public authorities, educational institutions and training providers, enterprises and other stakeholders in the private sector to use EntreComp collaboratively and innovatively. In addition, this will bring countries, regions, and/or cities together to exchange experiences and practices that work in building a coherent methodology to support the development of the entrepreneurship mindset at all levels.

More on EntreComp Europe project

A train-the-trainers project

This project will run until 2023, aiming at maximizing the potential of educators as the champions of entrepreneurship, and equip them with the necessary skills, pedagogical tools and approaches to systematically integrate principles of entrepreneurship within their curriculum, regardless of their discipline, and type of institution.

More on EntreTime project (train the trainers)