An international meeting explored work on business start-up undertaken jointly by CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) and France's Agence Nationale pour la creation d'entreprise. One opening presentation (Melis) addressed the basic idea underlying the research: to identify and highlight the role of training and counseling as support measures for business starters. "Description of the Current Situation of Business Start-Up" (Letowski) presented the situation country by country. Sixteen recommendations (Le Marois) were presented that dealt with studies required to improve an understanding of business start-up, development of support measures for business starters, and improvement of these support policies. The roundtable on "Counselling and Training before, during, and after Start-Up" considered nurseries for new businesses, training given to business starters by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in France, and prestart-up training. The roundtable on "The Promotion of Entrepreneurial Spirit" highlighted various modes of intervention: awareness campaigns, Portugal's support service for business start-up, models for teaching of business management, and support other than financial assistance. The roundtable on "Financing of Business Start-Up" addressed the banker's role, funding sources other than banks, counseling, and guarantees. A closing presentation (Muller) focused on the increased quantity and quality of data regarding business start-up, professionalism, and transferability value of projects. (YLB)