Europe beats US for enterprise
Louise Armitstead



EUROPE is rapidly overtaking America as the true home of the entrepreneur — and Britain is leading the charge.
A study by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Apax Partners, the private-equity firm, to be published on Tuesday, shows that Britain’s economic policies, institutions and infrastructure will make it one of the most attractive countries in the world for entrepreneurs to build new businesses in the next five years.
The Entreprenurial Framework Index ranks 60 countries on their attractiveness to start- up businesses. It gives them points for low levels of red tape, favourable tax regimes, flexible labour markets, open financing systems, and modern infrastructure.
The rankings are produced by assessing trends from the last five years and predictions until 2006.
While America has traditionally been the undisputed home of the entrepreneur, the index shows that European countries are catching up now that they have become aware of the link between entrepreneurship and economic growth.
America still has the most entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, and, in Nasdaq, the fastest-growing stock market, the study says.
But seven out of the top ten places on the index are taken by European countries, led by the Netherlands, Denmark and Britain.
The survey’s authors say Europe’s pre-eminence is not unexpected: “It would be surprising if Europe’s stable and sophisticated business environment did