UEAPME

Latest news & Events

6 February 2008, Brussels

UEAPME insists on a legally binding Small Business Act at EC public hearing

The European Commission organised on 6 February a public hearing on the “Small Business Act for Europe” due for adoption in June.

This high-level event, which gathered more than 200 participants at the Centre Borschette in Brussels, was attended by Commission’s Vice President Günter Verheugen, Mr Tomaž Jeršic from the Ministry of the Economy of Slovenia, Mr Othmar Karas MEP and closed by President Barroso. Secretary General Andrea Benassi spoke at the event on behalf of UEAPME.

Mr Benassi reinstated UEAPME’s calls for a solid, legally binding document based on the “think small first” principle, which must shift SME policy up a gear and provide added value for all the legislative initiatives in the coming years.

According to UEAPME, the Small Business Act must create the best possible environment for micro and small enterprises and give concrete answers to the diverse challenges they face along their lifecycle.

A bland repackaging of the existing rules is by no means sufficient to achieve the Commission’s ambitious aims, stressed Mr Benassi, who called for more attention to small businesses’ needs across all relevant EU policy areas.

In a position paper issued in December, UEAPME made a comprehensive list of legally binding measures, principles and objectives, which must be included in the Small Business Act in order to transform the EU’s commitment to a better SME policy into concrete results. Such a legal basis must be applied to all EC policies, and all legislation must be conceived from a small business perspective from the outset.

Reactions to Mr Benassi’s speech were positive, with Vice-President Verheugen stressing that the European Commission will not go for the lowest common denominator, but “aim high” in its forthcoming proposal, and President Barroso reconfirming his “personal commitment” towards SMEs and calling on Member States for a “shared effort” to make the Small Business Act a success.