The Local Councils of Birgu and St Paul's Bay nominated for "European Enterprise Awards"

On the 20th of November, 2009, the Birgu Local Council and St Paul's Bay Local Council, together with the other Local Councils, which were competing in the finals of the "Local Council Enterprise Support Award" ,which was being organized by the  Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Consumer, Fair Competition, Local Councils and Public Dialogue in the Office of the Prime Minister, were informed by the Commerce Division within the Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment on the initiative "European Enterprise Awards”.

Both local councils that of Birgu and St Paul's Bay took this opportunity and responded positively, so that both Local Councils would be nominated by the Commerce Division, in  to the two in two different categories for the "European Enterprise Awards 2010".

This initiative was launched five years ago by the European Commission where any partner country in the European Union, and those of Iceland, Norway and Turkey can apply and be nominated.

On the 24th of February, 2010, the two respective councils were informed that their nomination for each distinctive prize for the “European Enterprise Awards 2010”, was accepted and they were selected amongst the finalists.

The Birgu Local Council will be competing with finalists in the category of "Promoting Entrepreneurship", whilst the St. Paul’s Bay Local Council will be competing amongst the finalists competing in the category of "Improvement of business environment".

Both local councils were invited by the Directorate General for Small and Industry within the European Union to attend to the conference "Getting SMEs on the Road to recovery - The Small Business Act for Europe and European Enterprise Awards 2010: exchange of good practice ", as well as to the presentation ceremony of the winners of these prestigious awards organized by the European Commission in collaboration with the Spanish Presidency of the European Union.

These two events will take place in the Spanish capital, Madrid where on Monday 31 May, 2010, a plenary session and panel discussion on implementing the Small Business Act in the Member State will take place. This will then be followed with workshops during which shortlisted candidates for the 2010 European Enterprise Awards competition will be able to present their projects. The ceremony will take place in the Real Fabrica de Tapices, Madrid, in the presence of the Vice-President of the European Commission Antonio Tajani, The Spanish Ministry of Indusry, tourism and Trade, Miguel Sebastian and the President of the Committee of Regions. On 1st June, the conference will continue with workshops on aspects of implementing “ The Small Business Act”.

For these two important events, the Birgu Local Council will be represented by the Mayor Mr. John Boxall and the Executive Secretary Ms. Christine Bonello, whilst the St. Paul’s Bay Local Council will be represented by the Mayor Ms. Graziella Galea and Councillor Mr. Peter Abela.