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| Newsletter October 2005 |
| Upcoming Events |
| Service & Information |
| Latest Events |
| SME Lex |
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Dear Members of the SME UNION, dear friends of SMEs!
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This October I was able to bring together our new SME UNION Team at our Presidency meeting and meet with many of our friends and partners in Brussels to discuss the future of the SME UNION and the future of European SMEs. At my meeting with European People’s Party President Wilfried Martens I highlighted that I will put the fight for more growth and jobs at the forefront of the SME UNION agenda and therefore of Europe’s small and medium sized business community. Europe needs to create jobs in order to regain the confidence of its citizens.As regards our organization, the SME UNION Presidency will focus on strengthening the organization in all 25 EU member states and reaching out to the candidate countries.
A current hot issue is the European Social Model, discussed at the Informal EU Summit at Hampton Court. A European social agenda must first and foremost address the major cause of social exclusion: unemployment. What type of social model is it that has 20 million unemployed in Europe and the lowest GDP growth compared to our global competitors? Being social means above all reducing unemployment. Therefore, creating a framework for more jobs must be our top priority and it is an absolute must if we want to reconcile our people with the European project. One of our main challenges is to turn entrepreneurs into employers. New jobs in Europe will primarily come from small businesses.The European SMEs will play a crucial role and the SME UNION in cooperation with the SME Circle will continue its fight for better SME framework conditions (e.g. need for Services Directive, stopping overregulation in REACH proposal, better education for entrepreneurs, flexible working times). Only with higher employment, growth and prosperity, will we be able to create new wealth and maintain Europe’s social and environmental standards.
Please find more details about these issues in our Newsletter. We wish you a fruitful reading and look forward to seeing you at our next events.
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2005-11-07, Brussels, Conference on Corporate Tax Bases in Europe
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The Centre of European Policy Studies (CEPS) in cooperation with the Confederation Fiscale Europeenne (CFE) organizes this meeting in order to present the report on ‘Harmonising Corporate Tax Bases in Europe’. This meeting will be chaired by Onno Ruding, chairman of the CEPS Board of Directors. Speakers include Laszlo Kovacs, European Commissioner for taxation and customs union and Malcolm Gammie, Chairman of the CEPS expert group, which drafted the report.
Further information |
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2005-11-08/09/10, Budapest, EPO Patent Information Conference 2005/ Patinnova ’05
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Following their co-operation in 1999, 2001 and 2003, the European Commission and the European Patent Office are joining forces, combining the PATINNOVA and EPO Patent Information Conferences to promote the value of patents and patent information. This joint conference is being organized in close association with the Hungarian Patent Office. PATINNOVA ’05 will address important topical issues at the interface between intellectual property and innovation. In two parallel sessions the EPO Patent Information Conference will focus on the latest developments in the retrieval of patent information and the tools available on the market.
Further information |
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2005-11-08, Brussels, SMEs and Public Procurement: Where this fits in the Lisbon Agenda
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Public procurement represents 16% of the EU GDP, yet small businesses, freelance consultants and contractors continually encounter insurmountable obstacles, both cultural and administrative, when seeking to access public contracts. This situation needs to change, which is why we are pleased to inform you of a discussion on SMEs access to public contracts in the European Parliament in Brussels. This event is being organised in cooperation with the Lisbon Network, an informal grouping of Members of the European Parliament committed to accelerating progress towards the Lisbon targets and to stimulating jobs and growth.
Further information: pskinner@europarl.eu.int
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2005-11-18/19, Paris, SME Union France: A European Perspective for French SMEs
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Our newly established SME Union France member within UMP cordially invites all SME UNION and SME Circle members as well as the entire SME UNION family to its high level founding assembly. The official founding event takes place on Saturday 19 November morning and will include keynote speakers like Catherine Colonna, Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Renaud Dutreil, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises as well as MEP Alain Lamassoure, former French European Affairs Minister.
Further information: sme-union@u-m-p.org
Program Paris |
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2005-11-27/28, Brussels, 1st Annual European energy policy conference
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The first in a series of events set to run annually over the next five years, the 1st Annual European Energy Policy conference has been specifically developed to provide stakeholders with a regular opportunity to keep abreast of topical legislative issues, and a platform for discussion and debate. In bringing together key players including policy makers, industry representatives, regulators and NGOs, it is envisaged that real progress can be made in strengthening the level of debate and in helping to shape and secure the long-term future of energy in Europe.
Further information |
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2005-11-30, Brussels, EU external aid programme in the energy sector
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The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber organizes together with 17 representations of other Member States this seminar on aid programmes in the energy sector. The main task of this event is the information about EC funded activities in accession and candidate countries and western Balkan countries as well as forgeing contacts to potential cooperation partners in Europe.
Further information |
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2005-12-07, Brussels, SME UNION Education to Entrepreneurship Conference
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The SME UNION of the EPP and partners will hold an international SME Conference on “Education to Entrepreneurship – the European Education Market”, 7 December 2005, 14.00-18.00h in Brussels (place to be announced). High level representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, academics, entrepreneurs and politicians will discuss topics like educate to innovate, the importance of entrepreneurship education and the competitiveness of the European education market. Details will follow. |
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2005-12-07, Brussels, SME UNION PRESIDENCY, BUREAU and Conference
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On Wednesday, 7 December 2005 the SME UNION Political Bureau meets in Brussels, 11.30-13.00h (place to be announced) to discuss current policy matters and the political guidelines of the SME UNION. The Bureau Meeting takes place twice a year and is composed of all the representatives of the SME UNION Member Organisations, the Presidency, the SME Circle Presidency and the chairpersons and directors of the Working Groups.
Before the Bureau Meeting will take place the SME UNION Presidency Meeting from 10.00-11.30h and from 14.00-18.00h the SME UNION and partners will hold a big conference in Brussels on “Education to Entrepreneurship” with high level speakers and politicians where everyone is invited to join. Please save the date and make your travel arrangements. Further information and detailed invitations will go out soon.
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2005-12-12/13/14, Warsaw, Integration of New EU Member Countries and SMEs into GMES Programme
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The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme will establish an operational capacity in 2008. It shall integrate space-, air-, ground- and sea-based observation platforms for regional and global monitoring, providing essential information for policy- and decision-makers and to European citizens. The conference organized by Eurisy in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), the European Commission, CNES, DLR, ESPI and the Polish Academy of Sciences will focus on active participation of the new EU members in the future development of GMES.
Program Warsaw
Further information |
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2005-12-17, Belgrade, 3rd International SME Union Serbia Congress
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The SME UNION of the European People’s Party, SME Union Serbia and SA SME – Serbian SME Association jointly organize the third International Serbia SME Union Congress in Belgrade. Representatives of the Serbian government will discuss with SME UNION members, EU experts and other high-level speakers the prospect of future membership of Serbia and Montenegro to the EU and the impact of regional policy on SMEs. Further information to be sent out soon. |
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Service & Information |
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Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health call for SMEs
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The European Commission has published a call for proposals dedicated to SMEs under the ‘Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health’ section of the Sixth Framework Programme. The call covers the following areas:
- rational and accelerated development of new, safer, more effective drugs
- development of new diagnostics
- development of new in vitro test to replace animal experimentation
- development and testing of new preventive and therapeutic tools
- innovative research in post-genomics
- combating cardiovascular disease, rare disorders and resistance to antibiotics and other drugs
- studying the brain and human development
The indicative total budget for this call is EUR 171 million. The deadline for submitting proposal documents is 9 November 2005.
Further information |
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Best Practices of public support for SME early-stage equity finance
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The European Commission established an expert group in order to analyze state aide for private equity. Background of this survey was the immense relevance of equity ratio to growth and competitiveness of SMEs. The report discusses best practices and exhibits an overview of existing programmes and criteria in the member states.
Further information |
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SME Access to finance: EU-US working group report calls for greater cooperation
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DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission and the United States Department of Commerce have published their final report regarding venture capital, advised by industry representatives and academia. It recommends better policy cooperation in venture capital, and the creation of information resources supporting policy-makers in developing and implementing appropriate policies.
Further information |
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Cutting down red tape for EU contracts and grants for SMEs
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Simplify significantly the administrative burden for companies, SMEs and beneficiaries of EU grants while maintaining a high level of protection of the community funds – this is the goal of new measures announced by the European Commission. Based mainly on the practical experience of the Commission’s services, the proposed simplifications will bring procedural requirements in line with the risks and stakes involved. Particular attention is given to small organisations and projects: the smaller the amounts and risks, the easier and quicker the access to EU funding will be. Recent experience shows that many small organisations such as SMEs, NGOs and educational institutions wanting to work with the EU Institutions or apply for EU funding are discouraged by the amount of time and expenses required to compile the necessary documents. Main simplifications concerning contracts are in general, simpler tender procedures that will be used for contracts with a value below EUR 60.000, instead of EUR 50.000.
Further information |
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Commission sets up new advisory Group of Societal Policy Analysis
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The European Commission has set up a new external advisory ‘Group of Societal Policy Analysis’ (GSPA) involving top European experts in a broad range of fields which are important to European citizens and policy makers, such as labour market and welfare reform and promoting better education and research policies. Meetings of GSPA will be chaired by President Barroso and attended by Commissioners in charge of related portfolios.
Further information |
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EU report shows active labour policy can increase employment rate
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The employment in Europe report published on 19 October 2005 shows that despite low economic growth the employment growth rate doubled to 0.6% and its unemployment rate stabilised at around 9% in 2004 on back of key employment reforms introduced under the European Employment Strategy. That shows that an active labour market policy is critical to increase employment rates and not economic growth on its own. Despite these efforts Valdimir Spidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities said that Member States must keep up the momentum cause although the EU has doubled its employment growth rate it still lags behind the US´s rate of 1.1%.
Further information |
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Social protection expenditure in the EU25 accounted for 27.7% of GDP - Pensions made up nearly half of social benefits
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On average in the EU25, social protection expenditure accounted for 27.7% of GDP in 2002, compared to 27.3% in 2001. Average social protection expenditure as a percentage of GDP continued to mask major disparities between Member States in 2002. The proportion was highest in Sweden (32.5%), France (30.6%), Germany (30.5%) and Denmark (30.0%), while Estonia and Latvia (both 14.3% in 2001), Lithuania (15.2% in 2001) and Ireland (16.0%) recorded the lowest ratios. These differences reflect differences in living standards, but are also indicative of the diversity of national social protection systems and of the demographic, economic, social and institutional structures specific to each country. As a percentage of GDP, in 2002 pensions were highest in Italy (14.9%), Austria (14.6%), Germany (13.4%) and France (13.2%), and lowest in Ireland (3.6%), Estonia (6.3% in 2001), Lithuania (7.1%) and Slovakia (7.5%). The EU25 average was 12.5% in 2001.
Further information |
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European Social Model & Values
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Globalization, its effects on Europe’s competitiveness and the need for urgent economic and social reforms have become the new focus the EU has put on the Lisbon agenda. A European Commission’s report presented and sent to European leaders on 20 October, analyses the scale of the challenges faced by the European Union. Instead of a single social model across the Union, Europeans benefit from different national systems, reflecting their traditions and preferences. These systems nevertheless build on common European values. The report recognises that Europe’s success will only be secured if Member States modernise pensions, healthcare and education systems. These must ensure that European citizens are better equipped to deal with the impact that new technologies and globalization have on their lives. The report considers current policies have not yet delivered social justice for everyone. More must be done to tackle 19 million unemployed, continuing child poverty and growing differences in living standards. Globalization is not new. While it raises anxieties, we must remember that globalization is driven by the wish of billions of people to create a better life for themselves and their families underlines the report.
Press Release President Leitl
Communication from the Commission
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Tax harmonization versus tax competition in Europe
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On 20 October 2005 a conference under the topic of “Tax harmonization and legal uncertainty in Central and Eastern Europe” organized by the Austrian Chamber of Professional Accountants and Tax Advisors took place in Vienna. Laszlo Kovacs, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs, held a speech on tax harmonization versus tax competition. On this “difficult but stimulating issue” as Kovacs himself called it, he spoke about tax competition as well as about current efforts in the EU and in the international arena to promote minimum international taxation standards. Later on he said that the Commission will probably adopt a Communication on the contribution of EU tax and customs policies to the Lisbon agenda and referred some main elements of the Communication.
Further information |
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Barroso presents European Commission’s work programme for 2006
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On 25 October, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, presented the Commissions adopted work programme for 2006 in the European Parliament. The Commission Legislative and Work Programme for 2006 takes full account of current economic and political trends and where Europe stands on several key strategic dossiers. Progress in these areas will have a key impact on the ability of the European Union to take a real stride towards its goals in 2006.
Further information |
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Taxation and Customs: Commission sets out actions to boost European competitiveness
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The European Commission has adopted a comprehensive plan of EU-wide taxation and customs measures. The Communication presents key Community taxation and customs measures that would contribute to the structural adjustment needed in our economies in order to fulfil the Lisbon strategy. The measures proposed are not intended to change the structure of Member States’ tax systems or to impinge their national sovereignty. Instead they are aimed at reducing negative effects which co-existing national tax systems can have on market integration.
Further information |
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EP ECON Hearing on the company taxation (CCCTB)
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On 5 October 2005 the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has held a hearing focusing on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). The main topic which has been discussed together with national experts was the reform of company taxation in line with the new Lisbon Strategy, to ensure competitiveness, investment, growth and job creation, completion of internal market and equal treatment for enterprises, administrative simplification and cost reduction. An interesting part of the hearing was also the specific situation of SMEs under the CCCTB.
Further information |
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2005-07-10, Bucharest, International SME Conference „Romania at the Entrance of the EU – Better Conditions for SMEs”
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Two weeks before the publication of the report of the European Commission concerning the candidate countries Rumania and Bulgaria the SME UNION of the EPP held a conference together with its partner UNPR and its member PPA SME Union of Romania in Bucharest. In three panels the speakers discussed the general situation of the Rumanian economy, the fitness of the Rumanian energy market for accession as well as the perspectives for SMEs in Rumania within the internal market. |
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In his keynote-speech the newly elected Vice-President of SME UNION Jean-Michel FERRAND, UMP Member of the French Parliament, thanked the organizer UNPR under President Marian Petre MILUT for the excellent preparation of the conference and welcomed Serban BUBENEK, Vice-President of PPCD-PNTCD, Nadezhda MIHAILOVA, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Vice-President of the EPP and Member of the Bulgarian Parliament, Zsolt NAGY, Minister of Communications and IT, Anton NICULESCU, State Secretary for Foreign Affaires, Gheorghe POGEA, Deputy Prime Minister, and the audience of about 160 Rumanian entrepreneurs and international guests. |
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Peter M. MOMBAUR, President of SME Energy moderated the panel on the energy market. Cornel ROTARU, Director of Energy Efficiency Programs from the Romanian Agency for Energy Conservation, Bernd SCHNITTLER, Secretary General of UPEI, Jean SENOT, Deputy Head of International Affairs of RTE, and Samuel Adrian CABA, President of Christian Businessmen & Professionals Romania gave very interesting contributions to the actual situation of the European energy market. |
The third panel dealing with the challenges and perspectives of Rumanian SMEs in the accession period and in the common market was moderated by Patrick VOLLER, Secretary General of SME UNION. After Marius TODT from the Ministry of European Integration, gave an overview over the actual economic situation, Senator Marius MARINESCU, Florin ROSU, Counsellor to the State Minister, Carmen POPESCU, Vice-President of UNPR and Stejerel ROSU, President of SME Union Rumania went into details of the Rumanian regions. Johannes BECKER, Austrian Deputy Attachée of Commerce in Bucharest referred to the challenges Austria had to meet after its accession to the EU and saw some parallels for agriculture. Roland WAEYAERT from UNIZO showed best practice examples for promoting start-ups.
Presentation Rotaru
Presentation Toth
Speech Ferrand
Presentation Waeyaert
Presentation Caba
Presentation Schnittler
Presentation Senot |
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2005-10-17, Brussels, SME UNION Presidency “It’s high time for the EU to deliver on jobs and growth!”
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The newly elected President of SME UNION came together with his board members, representatives of the SME Circle of the EPP-ED Group and the SME Intergroup in order to discuss the future of the SME UNION. As regards the structure of the UNION, President Leitl will focus on strengthening the organization in all 25 EU member states and reaching out to the candidate countries. At the same occasion Christoph Leitl met with partners and friends of the SME UNION in the European Parliament to discuss further cooperations. Afterwards, at his meeting with European People’s Party President Wilfried Martens, the new EPP SME President highlighted that he will put the fight for more growth and jobs at the forefront of the SME UNION agenda. Europe needs to create jobs in order to regain the confidence of its citizens, concluded Leitl.
Press Release of President Leitl |
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2005-10-26, Prague, SME UNION President Meets ODS Chairman Topolanek
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Welcoming the youngest member of the SME UNION of the EPP, President Leitl met with ODS Party Chairman and main opposition leader Mirek Topolanek in the capital of the Czech Republic. The aim of the meeting was to discuss further cooperation between the ODS and the EPP SME organization. Topolanek and Leitl agreed to strengthen their relations, to stronger involve ODS MEPs in Brussels in the work of the UNION and to help each other to create a more SME friendly legislation at the European and national level. |
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SME-unfriendly vote on REACH proposals in EP Environment Committee
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The vote on the REACH proposals in the European Parliament Environment Committee on 4 October was much “greener” than the votes of the Industry (ITRE) and Internal Market (IMCO) Committees. Guido SACCONI, rapporteur on REACH was delighted when the members of this Committee adopted his report by 40 votes to 19, with 2 abstentions. At the same time he recognised that intensive negotiations will be needed before the plenary vote in mid-November on this bulky regulation, which will govern the use of all chemicals in the EU. Socialist, liberal and green MEPs welcomed a vote that put more emphasis on environment and human health protection, whilst the EPP-ED shadow rapporteur Ria Oomen Ruijten (EPP-ED, Netherlands) blamed the liberals and socialists for introducing amendments that will add red tape to the proposal. In particular, a number of amendments supported by the EPP-ED and adopted by IMCO regarding risk and volume prioritisation, pre-registration, and testing requirements for low volumes were voted down by ENVI. The amount of information required will only be reduced for the 1 to 10 tonnes-per-year category, although the shadow rapporteur Oomen Ruijten and IMCO rapporteur Nassauer were also calling for lower requirements to be applied to the 10 to 100 tonne bracket. However the final deal remains uncertain since some of the amendments voted by IMCO and ITRE committees will go straight to the plenary vote which is scheduled for 15 November in Strasbourg. Also, the EPP-ED will retable a substantial number of amendments. The UK Presidency aims for a political agreement by the end of the year. This could allow the legislation to be put in place by early 2006. The SME UNION in close cooperation with the SME Circle will continue to fight for a SME friendly result of REACH.
Overview
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Report calls for exempting small businesses from certain regulatory requirements
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In her initiative report on the Implementation of the European Charter for Small Enterprises, Dominique Vlasto (EPP-ED, France) regrets the complexity of the Commission’s report, as well as the rather patchy character of collected data. Dominique Vlasto also notes that progress towards implementation is unequal. Persistent fiscal impediments limit SMEs’ access to finance. Also, more should be done to exempt small businesses from certain regulatory requirement, as requested in the Charter. Finally, the report stressed that the open method of coordination should not exonerate the Commission from active participation. Professional organisations are also called on to be more involved. The deadline for tabling amendments is 8 November 2005.
Draft report Dominique Vlasto
Draft opinion P. Bushill Matthews, Vice President of SME Circle
Communication from the Commission |
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European Commission intends to withdraw one third of screened proposals
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After screening 183 proposals for EU laws pending at the European Parliament and Council, the Commission has decided on 27 September to announce to scrap more than a third (68). Some of the proposals are inconsistent with the objectives of the new Partnership for Growth and Jobs (Lisbon Agenda) or do not meet better regulation standards. Others are not advancing in the legislative process, or are simply outdated. Today’s decision is just part of the Commission’s much broader initiative to cut red-tape and over-regulation. This exercise constitutes a step change in the way the Commission seeks to ensure that the quality of legislation in Europe promotes the objectives of the Partnership for Growth and Jobs. The SME UNION hopes that this was just the beginning of a very positive trend we very much support moving away from the European Unions image to hinder more than helping member states’ economies and putting a break on EU growth.
Further information |
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Basel II voted in EP plenary
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On 28 September the European Parliament adopted the report by Alexander Radwan (EPP-ED, Germany, President of the SME Circle) on the capital requirements directive, known as Basel II. According to the amendments adopted, member states may apply capital requirements on a single and consolidated basis. Under certain conditions, they may allow zero risk weighting for internal group lending to be extended to banks operating in an institutional protection scheme. The vote demonstrated that some progress towards more transparency has been made regarding the rating procedure. In particular, banks will have to explain to SMEs applying for loans which information will be required, a procedure that could become compulsory at national level if voluntary agreements fail. Also, some measures towards simplification of small scale loans were adopted and thus be a big success for the SME Circle in favour of European SMEs. However the procedure of ratings as such will be cumbersome, especially for very small and micro businesses. A final agreement is expected from the UK presidency by the end of the year.
Further information |
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Vote on Services Directive in Internal Market Committee postponed
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The marathon vote on the services directive (often known as the "Bolkestein directive" after the Commissioner who first proposed it), which was scheduled for 4 and 5 October, has been postponed to 21 November. A series of meetings behind closed doors was held by the Internal Market Committee and the political groups to try to reduce the record number of amendments (at least 1600) and hammer out a compromise on key points. A "last chance" meeting on 3 October failed to produce a consensus. This means that the first-reading plenary vote due at the end of October is also put back and will probably now take place in January, under the Austrian presidency of the EU.
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection
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| Newsletter October 2005 |
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