Chapter 1 Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU

Recent developments that have focused on the institutions, support mechanisms and entrepreneurship in the European Union (EU) are mostly fragmented either focusing on statistical presentation of the current situation or analysis of the impact of the regulations on business creation. In addition, recent studies do not capture thoroughly the differentiating factors of the local, regional, national and supranational governance. Moreover, the recent trends tackling social and environmental challenges through entrepreneurship have not been explored and researched in an extensive way. Indeed, in the last decades a variety of tools, regulations, and funding and support schemes have been developed in the EU to promote and enhance entrepreneurial activities. Within this context, this collective volume aims to provide the go-to source of current thinking in this area as its scope will extend to all major, relevant and interrelated aspects of institutions, support mechanisms and entrepreneurship in the EU.