Eurocrats sent to work in small businesses

In a break from thinking up new regulations, 350 EU civil servants could soon be baking bread, working in carpentry or repairing oil and gas pipelines.

Under the 'Enterprise Experience' programme, administrators from the European Commission's directorate general for enterprise and industry will be sent to work for one week in a small or medium-sized business (SME), with the aim of helping officials understand the needs and problems of small businesses.

These civil servants usually spend their time drafting new legislation or supervising the implementation of existing law.

By 2009 all of the 350 administrators should have spent a week in an SME, shadowing key staff and experiencing the different departments of a company. To broaden the training experience, trainees will visit a firm operating in a sector they don't have direct responsibility for in their normal work.

The Commission said the work experience would help improve the quality of its lawmaking.

Commission vice president Günter Verheugen said he was looking forward to the work experience.

"Companies will not only get highly motivated trainees to assist in their day-to-day work but also 'EU ambassadors' who will be able to present and explain EU policies relevant to them," he said in a statement.

Host companies can be in any of the 25 member states and will have less than 250 staff.