Ahead of the European SME Assembly in Luxembourg on19-20 November 2015 BUSINESSEUROPE and UEAPME published a video message and a joint statement today calling for a renewed and strengthened EU policy for craft and SMEs (see below).
Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) would benefit from a revision of the EU SME policy framework in the following areas:
- better access to finance
- improved access to markets
- supporting entrepreneurship
- cutting unnecessary burdensome bureaucratic hurdles
- eliminating skills shortages
While supporting the European Commission’s policy line to integrate SME issues into all EU policies, the Commission should rigorously respect its own smart regulation principles:
- “Think Small First” principle
- Principle of making a compulsory SME test in the impact assessment of any new EU policy initiative.
The basis for this European SME policy is the existing Small Business Act (SBA). The SBA needs to be reviewed and revised to establish the future SME strategy of the European Union.
Please find a video message of Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BUSINESSEUROPE and Peter Faross, Secretary General of UEAPME here
The joint statement is available here.
UEAPME (Union Européenne de l’Artisanat et des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises) is the employer organisation representing the interests of European crafts, trades and SMEs at EU level.
BUSINESSEUROPE is Europe’s employer and industry organisation representing the interests of 40 national industry and employer federations and their members in Europe.
