BIOGRAPHY: Pascal Marmier is in charge of innovation and entrepreneurship at Swiss House, the Swiss Science & Technology consulate in Cambridge. Swiss House brings together Swiss and US entrepreneurs, investors and scientists around collaborative programs and local events. Pascal helps Swiss entrepreneurs interested in doing business in the US and works closely with Swiss decision-makers on making Switzerland a better place for entrepreneurs. Before joining the Swiss House team, Pascal founded SEND - Swiss Entrepreneurs Network Development working as a consultant to assist entrepreneurial Swiss connect, learn and do business with the Boston entrepreneurial community. Pascal came to the US to follow postgraduate studies in US Business Law at Boston University, School of law where he graduated in May 1999. He is admitted to the New York bar since July 1999. Previously, he worked on international transactions with KPMG in Lausanne, Switzerland. He obtained his "Licence en Droit" from University of Lausanne in 1995. TITLE: "Overview of the Swiss and EU entrepreneurial environments" ABSTRACT: As a developed economy, the path for Europe to achieve sustainable growth is to ensure that its resources are allocated both effectively and to their fullest potential. Through the creation of the European union, Europe has chosen competition as the mechanism to best allocate and utilize its resources, with the hope that effective competition will induce innovation and foster entrepreneurship behaviors, which in turn, would become the predominant sources of job and wealth creation, thus increasing standard of living. The US economy depends heavily on entrepreneurial "high growth" companies. New ventures account for more than two-thirds of job creation (see NCOE site). While entrepreneurship is a well-known and widely practice mechanism in the US, Europe is lagging behind in both adapting its structure to create a favorable environment, and making sure that its intellectual capital and forces of innovation are used to their fullest potential. The presentation will give an overview of the status of entrepreneurial activities in Europe and Switzerland and engage the students in a comparative discussion based on their perception of the local entrepreneurial "ecosystem" - facts and figures - commonly cited elements hindering entrepreneurship in Europe - what European/Swiss entrepreneurs say - what are some of the changes affecting Europe/Switzerland - what's the future looking like