The European Commission has awarded the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment for its Emprendeverde Network project, which has received one of the 2015 European Business Promotion Awards. The award was collected by the director of the Foundation, Sonia Castañeda, in Luxembourg, where the awards ceremony was held.

The European Business Promotion Awards granted by the European Commission recognize initiatives that promote entrepreneurship; showcase and share the best examples of business policies and practices; create greater awareness of the role of entrepreneurs in society and encourage and inspire potential entrepreneurs.

In the category of “Support for the development of green markets and resource efficiency”, the Emprendeverde Network has competed with two other candidatures from Austria and Luxembourg, which deal with efficient economy and waste management.

The members of the Jury are representatives of the academic community, business, the country of the Presidency of the Spring European Council and a high-level representative of the country of the Presidency of the European Council in the autumn of that particular year. There are also two permanent representatives: one from the Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and the other from the Committee of the Regions.

Local, regional and national administrations of the European Union and the countries associated with the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme were eligible for this recognition: Iceland, Norway, Serbia and Turkey. A maximum of two projects have been submitted for each of these countries.

For the European Commission, these awards, which have been held annually since 2005, aim to raise awareness of the role of companies and stimulate and inspire potential entrepreneurs.