Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: Europe’s Female Leaders and Competitiveness

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: Europe’s Female Leaders and the Challenge of Competitiveness

Reception on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, from 18:00 to 22:00 CET European Parliament, Brussels

The current economic downturn in Europe is challenging to all entrepreneurs, but women are deemed to be more vulnerable to the effects of recessions and shocks. Women’s economic empowerment has raised a great deal of awareness in Europe, producing female leadership and entrepreneurial role models in all kinds and sizes of businesses and organisations. This movement has also spurred the creation of support ecosystems designed to nurture and expand female-led entrepreneurial initiatives. On Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, we want to bring the female perspective to the forefront of the discussion on Europe’s global competitiveness and explore ways to reinvigorate our economic dynamism. We’ll examine which policies are currently lacking to support women entrepreneurs and identify which incentives have proven most effective. Understanding these gaps and successes is key to shaping future strategies that empower women to drive innovation and growth across Europe.

Programme

Welcome

Jörgen Warborn MEP (confirmed)

President, SME Europe of the EPP; President, SME Global of the IDU

Opening

Roberta Metsola MEP (confirmed)

President of the European Parliament

Fireside chat I: Rebooting Europe: The Role of Women Entrepreneurs Amid Economic Uncertainty

Marina Rožić (tbc)

Chair of Eurochambres Women Network and Secretary General of the Croatian Chamber of Economy

Veronique Willems (tbc)

Secretary General, SME United

Eva Maydell MEP (tbc)

Vice-President of SME Europe of the EPP

Henna Virkkunen (confirmed)

European Commissioner-designate for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy

Fireside chat II: Micro to Macro: Crafting Local Ecosystems that Meet Women Entrepreneurs’ Needs

Local impact - Austria

Christina Teusl and Denise Vorraber (confirmed)

Co-founders of FEMINDS

Local impact - Sweden

Jennie Sinclair (confirmed)

Ownershift Think Tank

Local impact - Ukraine

Nina Levchuk and Olga Diakova (confirmed)

Co-founders of Impact Force

Nadia Calviño (tbc)

President of the European Investment Bank

Moderation

Zuzana Pučikova (confirmed)

Special Advisor for Digital and Climate Transition, SME Connect

Host or Publisher SME Europe