Helping businesses overcome financial difficulties [antikvár]

Introduction by Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission responsible for enterprise and the information society Do we stigmatise those who have failed or, on the contrary, do we consider failure as a valuable learning experience? A positive attitűdé to risk-taking and failure is a key to encouraging people to become the entrepreneurs whom Europe needs. Within the European Union, attitudes towards risk-taking and the features of bankruptcy legislation vary. This publication aims to exploit this diversity for the benefit of the growing number of enterprises that are the driving force of the modern European economy: by presenting examples of good practice throughout Europe, we all get the opportunity to learn and thus do better. The risk capital action plan (1) argues that removing the stigma of failure is a crucial reform for promoting entrepreneurship. The European Charter for Small Enterprises (2) considers that somé failure is concomitant with responsible initiative and risk-taking must be mainly envisaged as a learning opportunity. It calls for assessment of bankruptcy legislation in the light of good practice.