Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is Europe’s new mobility scheme that aims at helping new entrepreneurs to acquire relevant skills for managing a small or medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) by spending time in a business in another EU country. It was initiated by the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 (EU) on the 19 February 2009.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is financed by the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

 and is in operation across 21 EU countries with the help of more than 100 intermediary organisations competent in business support.
By 2010, a total of 870 stays abroad will be in action.

Aims of the programme

The programme stimulates entrepreneurship, competitiveness, internationalisation and growth of start-ups and established SMEs in the EU. The programme contributes to the transfer of know-how and fosters cross-border transfer of knowledge and experience between entrepreneurs.

The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs has a number of specific objectives:

• It offers new entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from an experienced entrepreneur who is running a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in another EU country,
• It enables the exchange of experience between new and experienced entrepreneurs,
• It facilitates access to new markets and the search for potential business partners,
• It enhances networking between business people and between SMEs,
• It allows experienced entrepreneurs to develop new commercial relations and find out more about opportunities in another EU country.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs provides practical and financial assistance for new entrepreneurs (NE) spending time in the business of experienced host entrepreneurs (HE) in other EU countries. New entrepreneurs travel to an experienced entrepreneur in another EU country and work with him/her for 1 to 6 months. The matching of the new entrepreneurs with the host entrepreneurs is carried out with the help of the intermediary organisations.

History and development of ERASMUS

In 2007, the European Parliament introduced a new budget line entitled "Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs”. The European Commission then started to design the Pilot Project with the aim of supporting mobility periods abroad for recently established and nascent entrepreneurs, with a view to improving their skills and fostering the cross-border transfer of knowledge and experience between entrepreneurs.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs comes under the Small Business Act for Europe which considers this initiative a key contribution “to create an environment within which entrepreneurs and family businesses can thrive and entrepreneurship is rewarded”.

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is to a certain extent similar to the well-known Erasmus Programme

Erasmus Programme

The Erasmus Programme , a.k.a. Erasmus Project is a European Union student exchange programme established in 1987...

for students since it is a mobility action which addresses a particular target group. However, it is also clearly different: whereas the existing Erasmus programme in higher education enhances student-to-university relationships, the new Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs focuses on business-to-business relationships. The various EU mobility programmes are complementary to each other offering mobility opportunities to different target groups at different moments of life.