UEAPME's latest press releases

Basel III: Parliament's committee vote a key step in the right direction, say SMEs

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:29:00 +0200

Brussels, 15 May 2012 – UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation, warmly welcomed yesterday's vote at the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on the implementation in the EU of the “Basel III” rules on capital requirements. According to the association, the “Karas report” adopted by MEPs strikes a very good balance between the requirement to increase the resilience of the financial system on one hand and the need not to harm the provision of financing to the real economy on the other. UEAPME appreciated in particular the proposed reduction of risk weights for retail loans, which should avoid increased financing costs for small companies and start-ups. It also praised the rapporteur for supporting a regulatory level playing field across EU Member States, as well as for resisting the pressures to weaken the requirements on quality of capital and liquidity risks, which are key for a stronger banking sector.

Europe's efforts for growth must focus on SMEs, UEAPME tells Barroso

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:41:00 +0200

Brussels, 2 May 2012 – The efforts made by the European Union to tackle the economic crisis and to restore growth in Europe must be channelled in the right direction to meet the needs and expectations of SMEs, according to UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation. In a bilateral meeting on 30 April with the European Commission's President José Manuel Barroso, President Gunilla Almgren insisted on the need to fully apply the “Think Small First” principle, which would eliminate the need for exemptions from legislation for small companies. She also warned against enlarging the current EU-wide SME definition and stressed the importance of SME-focused measures in the 2014-2020 programming period for cohesion policy, R&D and innovation and SMEs' competitiveness. Finally, President Almgren highlighted the possible negative effects on SMEs' access to finance linked to the implementation in the EU of the “Basel III” rules on capital requirements, and reinstated UEAPME's commitment to work alongside the other European Social Partners to tackle youth unemployment.

“Employment package” too shy on SMEs as job creators, warns UEAPME

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:13:00 +0200

Brussels, 18 April 2012 – The “employment package” presented by the European Commission today is spot on when it comes to addressing both the demand and supply sides of labour markets and encouraging structural reforms. However, it is too limited on the key role of small and medium-sized companies as job creators, according to UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation. On the positive side, the association welcomed the strong political signal launched by the EC to tackle unemployment, as well as its call for labour market reforms. It also praised the EC for stressing once again the need for a better in-volvement of social partners in the macroeconomic governance at EU level, with a stronger focus on wage developments. On the negative side, UEAPME stressed the lack of references to the Small Business Act and to the “Think Small First” principle, which must be taken into account when designing the needed reforms. It also criticised the chapter on skills, as it disregards the importance of vocational education and training and work-based learning, including apprenticeship.

The European Social Partners: “Focusing on youth and employment is the top priority for the coming years”

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:21:00 +0200

BUSINESSEUROPE, ETUC (and the liaison committee EUROCADRES/CEC), CEEP and UEAPME, are committed to jointly address youth and employment, as two of the main activities of their new work programme 2012-2014.

Parliament and Council must bring “Horizon 2020” in line with SMEs' needs

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:25:00 +0100

Brussels, 22 March 2012 – A dedicated budget of 15% of the overall programme and a single management structure are needed to fully exploit the innovation potential of SMEs in the upcoming “Horizon 2020” research and innovation programme, according to UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation. In a position paper presented to the European Parliament today (Thursday), the association called on MEPs and on the Council to ensure that these changes are made to the programme before its final adoption (1). On the dedicated budget, UEAPME stressed that this is a necessary precondition for the implementation and marketing towards SMEs of the European Commission's new “integrated approach” to research and innovation. On the single entry point, the organisation warned that only one management structure will ensure coherence and transparency across all the societal challenges and enabling technologies. UEAPME also condemned the attempts to change the SME definition used in Horizon 2020 to make larger companies access SME-dedicated funds and instruments.

Cohesion policy for 2014-2020 must keep a clear focus on SMEs

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:33:00 +0100

Brussels, 15 March 2012 – The new cohesion policy for 2014-2020 must closely associate economic and social partners in programming at all levels, including in the identification of priorities, and secure “ring-fenced” budget quotas for SMEs' competitiveness and innovation-related activities, according to UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation. The association published today a comprehensive position paper with specific, article by article comments on all the various cohesion funds as well as a set of overarching priorities for SMEs. UEAPME highlighted the key role played by intermediary organisations, calling for specific guidance and support measures for SMEs and stressing the need for a real “multilevel governance” of cohesion policy. This exercise should also be extended to the choice of priorities at regional level, warned the organisation.

Tripartite Social Summit: SMEs demand growth-focused measures

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:28:00 +0100

Brussels, 1 March 2012 – Structural reforms to stimulate growth and employment in the private sector are needed next to fiscal consolidation, which is necessary but not sufficient, according to UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation. Speaking today for her first time at the Tripartite Social Summit ahead of the European Council, President Gunilla Almgren stressed that there is no alternative to strengthening economic governance and putting in place consolidation programmes in order to tackle soaring public debts and deficits. However, these measures put a damper on general demand, a key source of revenues for small businesses, as clearly recorded by our latest “Craft and SME Barometer” that registered a decrease in SMEs expecting an upturn, a dramatic decline of output-related indicators and quite negative forecasts for the next months. Against this background, policymakers should follow up with structural reforms to mobilise private spending, encourage SME growth, promote job creation and restore business confidence, stressed our President, who also put forward some concrete proposals to tackle the plague of youth unemployment in Europe. On the joint work programme of the European Social Partners for 2012-2014 presented today, Ms Almgren reconfirmed UEAPME's commitment and welcomed in particular the in-depth analysis announced on the challenges facing European labour markets.

Joint press statement: Commission should reconsider plans on occupational pensions

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:51:00 +0100

Today the European Commission will launch a process to review European pension regulation when Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services opens a public hearing on the review of the “IORP Directive”. The European Commission aims to make important elements of the Solvency II legislation for insurance companies applicable to IORPs across Europe. This objective is repeated in the Commission's White Paper on Pensions, which talks of a “level playing field with Solvency II”. We believe that it is dangerous to apply legislation made for insurance companies to IORPs. There are fundamental differences between them. Any effort to harmonise the regulatory regime is based on flawed logic and could have unintended consequences on pension plan members, IORPs and the economy as a whole by impeding growth and job creation.

Energy efficiency: EP report ok for SME users, less for SME producers

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:24:00 +0100

Brussels, 28 February 2012 – The report on the Energy Efficiency Directive adopted by the European Parlia-ment's Industry Committee today (Tuesday) is a step forward towards the creation of the favourable framework that SMEs need in order to fully achieve their energy savings potential. However, MEPs fell short of supporting SME producers that struggle to survive in the energy supply and distribution and in the energy services markets, according to UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' association. On the positive side, UEAPME welcomed the amendments aiming at reducing the information and technical barriers for SMEs willing to lower their energy footprint, as well as at introducing incentives for energy efficiency investments and supporting the micro-generation and micro-cogeneration of energy. The organisation also invited Mem-ber States to make use of the option introduced today by MEPs to exempt small energy retailers and distributors from applying the energy savings obligations for end users foreseen by the directive. At the same time, UEAPME warned of possible market distortions arising from large energy companies becoming active in the energy services and consultancy market.

Stable business confidence hides worrying developments, survey finds

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:24:00 +0100

Brussels, 28 February 2012 – European small businesses are in “wait and see” mode as uncertainty prevails over confidence and a mild recession is underway, according to a survey conducted by UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation, and its members (1). Since last spring, the proportion of entrepreneurs expecting a positive or neutral economic environment decreased by a mere 0.3 percentage points, with UEAPME's “SME Business Climate Index” down to 70.5 from 70.8, hovering around the 70 points barrier that is seen as a neutral business climate. However, the number of companies expecting a neutral business climate reached its peak, with a corresponding decline in SMEs hoping for a better economic out-look. The confidence gap between Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain combined and the rest of the EU kept widening, found the survey, which also recorded a deterioration of turnover, employment and orders indicators in the second semester of 2011. These negative results may have influenced SMEs' pessimistic expectations for the first half of 2012. Against this background, UEAPME warned that the reduction of public demand stemming from the needed fiscal consolidation must be compensated with structural reforms that could lead to a private demand-led recovery.