Citizens of the 10 countries which joined the European Union in 2004 are closer to the United States than "Old Europe" in their attitudes to entrepreneurship, according to figures released on Monday, Oct. 8.  People in the older EU member states seem to find working for the man preferable to being the man as just 28 percent of them said it's desirable to become self-employed.

Some 40 percent of citizens in new member states, however, find the idea attractive, compared with 42 percent of US citizens, the poll by EU's Eurobarometer polling agency found. Among young people, citizens of the new member states are even keener than their US counterparts to start a business, with 62 percent of "new" Europeans in favor of the idea, against 57 percent in the US and 51 percent within the EU as a whole.