Readers of the Corporate Europe Observer will be familiar with the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), the group of EU and US based industrialists initiated by the European Commission and the US government. The mushrooming of EU business roundtables involving CEOs from other parts of the world is facilitated by generous funding from the European Commission (EC). The EC's enterprise directorate has a special budget line for the "promotion of international business-to-business dialogue." [1]

"From an EU standpoint," the announcement on the EC's website explains, "such dialogue should contribute to enhancing the global competitiveness of EU business and lead to recommendations to the public authorities of both regions on how to achieve such objectives." [2]

The EC offers to pay up to 50% of the costs of "conferences, seminars and workshops as well as their preparatory or follow-up activities" and lists examples of business dialogues it already supported: EU-Japan Business Round Table, Transatlantic Business Dialogue with the United States of America, EU-Russia Business Round Table, EU-Taiwan Business Round Table, EU-ASEAN Business Round Table and Mercosur-EU Business Forum. [3]

If you want to know whether the EU has funded an international business roundtable targeting a region with your particular interest, contact the civil servant responsible for the budget line:

DG III/A/2 -- Jean-Pierre Bou -- fax: +32-2-296.98.52, E-mail: Jean-Pierre.Bou@dg3.cec.be

1. DG III Grant Theme 18, in 1999 with a budget of 150.000 euro. | Back to Text |

2. Website of the EC's DG Enterprise.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg03/directs/dg30/grants/theme18.htm | Back to Text |

3. Ibid. | Back to Text |

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