Press Release: New European Enterprise Awards: the search is on for the most enterprising place in Europe

A new annual competition for local and regional authorities, the European Enterprise Awards, were to recognise and reward initiatives to support entrepreneurship. Plans for the awards were presented in Luxemburg 11 October 2005 by European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, UK Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. The competition was to be publicly launched by the European Commission on 14 November 2005 in London. Inspired by the previous year's UK competition, it aimed to raise awareness of enterprise activities and celebrate entrepreneurial success.