What is EUFRATE ?

EUFRATE – a project of the Avignon Academy and UEAPME co-financed by the European Commission – PRINCE

Programme

Summary of the Project

The aim of EUFRATE is to promote the debate, in SME and Craft organisations of all EU and candidate countries, and of European Sector organisations, on the Future of Europe, and to bring the contribution of the representatives of almost 10 million small, medium and craft enterprises to the European Convention.

To achieve this, a Network will be set up which will initiate a structured debate within the Avignon Academy and all UEAPME member organisations, and to create an Online Forum for discussion and information. An online questionnaire will be the tool to highlight the priorities of small enterprises. The result of these activities will be presented to, and discussed, in the SME and Crafts Summit, and the outcome will contribute to the work of the Convention.

OBJECTIVES

• That the European Charter of Small enterprises adopted by the Feira European Council is included in the framework of the new European Treaty.
• To ensure that the new decision making process guarantees an effective representation of the interest of small enterprises.
• That the development of the Social Dialogue will favour small enterprise interests.

CORE ACTIVITIES

1. NETWORK
The Network is the core of the project and it will be constructed as follows: 15 experts from the Avignon Academy and UEAPME will form the Network. The Network will prepare information to the member organisations, diffuse the information, participate in the Internet Forum and organise thematic meetings.

2. THEMATIC meetings and reports
Each member of the NETWORK organises two thematic meetings in its member organisation and produces a written report in English.

3. SME SUMMIT on the Future of Europe.
The Avignon Academy will organise a SME and Craft Summit for in Rome, Italy 7-8 March, 2003