摘要：The role of entrepreneurship in economic growth and development has been largelydebated and acknowledged, both in literature and in policy making. Wihin the context of the present crisis, ata European level, entrepreneurship development is seen as the main solution for job creation andsustainable economic growth. As a consequence, there have been several calls and initiatives to makeentrepreneurship the growth engine of European economy and to put the principle of “think small first” atthe core of national and European policies. This paper discusses the challenges and the perspectives forentrepreneurship development in European countries from the point of view of the three areas of interventionproposed by Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan. The research methods are the analysis of different reportsand policy papers and comparative analysis of statistical data from international databases. The mainfindings confirm the differences in entrepreneurial activity, level and nature of entrepreneurship existing atEuropean level during the crisis, and also point out the strengths and weaknesses of European countries inthe three areas proposed by the 2020 Action Plan
关键词：entrepreneurship; crisis; entrepreneurial education; culture of entrepreneurship; European;Union
