European Enterprise Promotion Awards: the Pépite mechanism will represent France

The European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) was initiated by the European Commission to award each year the “best initiatives, policies and practices” in the field of entrepreneurship and business support in Europe. Several categories are open to the competition, such as “Investing in entrepreneurial skills”, “Supporting the digital transition” and “Supporting ecological transition”, but the Pépite France network takes part in the category that concerns it most, “Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit”.

A competition open to many countries

As points out the Ministry of Higher Education, operator of the Pépite mechanism in France, the aim of the European Awards for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship is to identify and reward “initiatives and players that promote entrepreneurship and small businesses in Europe at national, regional and local level”. Initiatives from all the countries of the European Union, as well as other associated countries (notably the United Kingdom, Turkey and Ukraine), are taking part in this competition, the results of which will be announced at the SME Assembly 2024 (for European SMEs) to be held from 18 to 20 November in Budapest, Hungary.

In this context, Pépite has been selected as the French national winner. This selection illustrates and enhances “the work of all the Pépite centres” and all the higher education establishments federated through them. According to the Ministry, they are all keen “to raise awareness of their actions to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and the uniqueness of the Pépite scheme”.

32 Pépite centres in France

The Pépite centres (standing for, in French, “student centres for innovation, transfer and entrepreneurship”), which are spread across France, are designed to help students and young graduates set up their own businesses by putting them in touch with companies and support and funding structures.

It was to meet students’ expectations that the French Ministry of Higher Education set up this national network in 2014, which “harmonises support for student entrepreneurs and promotes their entrepreneurial commitment”. As the ministry points out, these 32 centres “are specific to each region and bring together the skills of higher education establishments”. The mission of each of these centres is to raise awareness, introduce and support students in developing their entrepreneurial spirit and skills. Some of these students go on to set up their own businesses, thereby qualifying for the national student-entrepreneur status (SNEE).

Raising awareness at international scale

According to the Ministry, over 30% of French students claim to have been made aware of entrepreneurship during their studies. More specifically, since the creation of the Pépite mechanism, “almost 40,000 students have been helped to set up their own business and more than 5,600 students have benefited from the national student-entrepreneur status”.

It should also be noted that the Pépites concept and the national student-entrepreneur status are being developed at international scale. More than a dozen French-speaking countries have adopted this new status with the support of the Francophonie University Association (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, AUF, in French).

Explore more: 

- Pépite France’s selection for the competition

- The European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) competition

- The Pépite mechanism