Europaverband

UNITEE is a confederation at the European level for entrepreneurs and professionals of Turkish descent whom we refer to as ‘New Europeans. Founded by 52 business associations across 17 different European countries, UNITEE at present comprises more than 10,000 entrepreneurs and 2,000 business professionals.

Our goal is to fight for an economically strong Europe which is sustainable and socially responsible and which draws its strength from the diversity of its citizens in political, cultural and social terms. Taking our lead from the Europe 2020 Goals, we want to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit among the New European community, with a strong tendency towards social and corporate responsibility in particular.

We also encourage and support where possible, philanthropic activities among our entrepreneurs. Yet another fundamental reason for UNITEE’s existence is to help to professionalise New European entrepreneurs and business professionals, so that they will be able to compete for an equal level of salary and corresponding level of service to their clients. In addition, we want to provide them with the necessary skills and mobility to enable them to move with ease between the different sectors of the economy.

Why ‘New Europeans’? In Europe in general, politicians use the term immigrant to describe people who have come to Europe 50 years ago. When however will this description as an immigrant end? We want to change this mentality. We tend to avoid the phrase ‘immigrant’ as the majority of our members are second or third generation European-Turks holding citizenship of their respective countries and are therefore not ‘immigrants’ in the strictest sense. We therefore prefer to use a description which reflects our membership more accurately.

The European Commission’s Eurobarometer Survey 2011 defines ‘New Europeans’ as « people who live in the EU and have connections with more than just the country where they live ». New Europeans will not go back to the country of their origin and their future is in Europe.