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Report on the EU candidate countries, measures to promote entrepreneurship

If successfuly integrated into the European Union, the accession countries could provide a large and exciting new market for many private equity investors who are currently adopting a wait-and-see approach. The key is whether the countries are doing enough to foster their home-grown entrepreneurs and therefore provide dealflow for venture capitalists. This European Commission study looks at what the candidate countries are doing in this vital area.

The major concern arising from the report is SME's access to finance - none of the candidate countries present a satisfactory situation in this field. The financial systems must be completely restructured for this issue to be resolved. The creation of an innovation culture among enterprises, and in particular SME's, is also far from being achieved.

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