The young European entrepreneurs who take part in the Erasmus exchange program reserved for them by the European Commission are mainly Italian and Spanish. Young people most likely discouraged by the difficulties encountered in looking for a job, but seriously intending to set up their own business or who have started their own entrepreneurial activity in the last three years, on the one hand; and, on the other hand, owners of a small or medium-sized enterprise based in a different European country willing to act as professional tutors for the former for a period of one to six months.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs offers candidates selected on the basis of the business project submitted, together with financial support from the Commission, the opportunity to gain entrepreneurial experience in Europe under the guidance of a company manager.
The program was born somewhat quietly at the beginning of 2009, when the EU Commission started a one-year trial. The experience was positive and, at the end of the twelve months, the program was extended for another year and then became stable. So that now the same Commission has announced the balance of four years of activity, carried out with the collaboration of Eurochambers (which represents the Chambers of Commerce of all Europe) and local organizations to support businesses.
Of course, the numbers are not comparable to those of Erasmus for university students, which involved three million European students in twenty-five years. Today, at the end of this first four-year period, the balance is 1.600 exchanges made and over 3.000 companies created or further developed. The organizers' database also contains over six thousand requests to participate in the programme: two-thirds from aspiring entrepreneurs or young people who have already started a business no more than three years ago, and the remaining third from host entrepreneurs.
Modest numbers, as we have seen, if compared with those of Erasmus for university students. But, they underline to the Commission, "the results are encouraging if we consider the level of satisfaction of those, guests and hosts, who have participated in an exchange". Almost all of the former (94%) defined the experience as "useful for creating or developing an entrepreneurial activity"; and many of them have already started it. Even the latter largely expressed (84%) a positive evaluation; and all declared their readiness to host another young "apprentice entrepreneur".
Scrolling through the database of requests, we then learn that, as has been said, half of the requests from young entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs come from Italy and Spain, followed in order but very far from those arriving from France, Great Britain and from Germany. While as regards the "tutor" candidates at the top of the ranking, there are always the questions from the Italians and the Spanish, followed however in a different order from those of the British, Germans and French.
As for the future of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, there is some optimism in Brussels. “According to a recent survey – they underline to the Commission – 51% of young Europeans declare themselves interested in embarking on the path of entrepreneurship, but only a few know how to put their ambitions into practice. Meanwhile, at least to start getting information, they could click on the site http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/index.php?lan=it".
