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| Newsletter January/February 2010 |
| Foreword |
| Upcoming Events |
| Service and Information |
| Past Events |
| SME Lex |
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Dear Members of the SME UNION, dear friends of SMEs!
In February, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new 27-strong team of European Commissioners. The Commission is the EU's executive arm, responsible for drafting EU laws and ensuring that the 27 member states comply with the EU treaties. In the name of the SME UNION I congratulate the new Barroso II Commission and I whish them good luck in tackling the upcoming EU challenges.
In January 2010 I honored the invitation of Saudi authorities and visit the newly created King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia to teach a block course (Funding new ventures). In this framework, I had a significant discussion regarding the creation of a new Business school within the University, which would concentrate on entrepreneurship, new businesses and the financing of fast growing SMEs in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
In the name of the SME UNION of the EPP I welcomed European Council’s decision of 11 February not to bail out Greece. Apart from stopping short of violating the EU rules and in particular the Maastricht Treaty it would have created a moral hazard if the EU and the ECB would reward the violation of the Maastricht criteria. We should support the efforts of the EU leaders to find a solution which addresses these problems, taking a long view, and creating the necessary institutions in place. At the mid-long term, it will be no other way around than creating an European Monetary Fund which also will encourage the Eurozone relation with the IMF.
SME UNION reacted to this year Davos World Economic Forum that missed the most important point: how to get out of the crisis by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. We strongly recommended that next year Davos World Economic Forum should put much more emphasis on new businesses creation and new entrepreneurs.
I wish you a joyful reading of our January/February Newsletter where you can find more information about SME UNION past and upcoming events, as well as helpful information concerning SME policies and programmes, and we look forward to seeing you. |
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2010-03-24, Brussels, SME UNION Working Lunch on Innovating in Challenging Times: What is the Role for SMEs?
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The SME UNION will organize a Working Lunch to which you are all kindly invited. The event will take place Wednesday 24 March 2010, 11:00-13:30 at the Hilton Brussels Hotel, Boulevard de Waterloo 38, Brussels. Project manager Ceren Urcan at +32 2 23338 37/38 or sme@sme-union.eu. |
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2010-04-14, Brussels, SME UNION Working Lunch on Sports Integrity & Education–an Academic Viewpoint
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The SME UNION will organize a Working Lunch to which you are all kindly invited. The event will take place Wednesday 14 April 2010, 12:30-14:00 in the European Parliament, Salon des Membres, Brussels. Project manager Lucas Ponbauer at +32 2 23338 32/38 or sme@sme-union.eu. Further information will come. |
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March 2010, Athens, Warsaw, Brussels, Conferences on SMEs in the Defence Sector
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The Directorate General Enterprise is organising seven conferences on “Strengthening European small and medium sized enterprises in the defence sector” in different Member States between October 2009 and March 2010. SMEs acting in the defence sector still face significant problems. They lack information on business and clustering/partnering opportunities and they experience difficulties to make primary defence companies and customers aware of their products and services. Conferences have already taken place in Berlin, Stockholm, Madrid, Budapest. In March 2010, there will take place in Athens and Warsaw with participation from industry and particularly SMEs, from Ministries of Defence, Ministries of Economics, European and national industrial associations and from EDA. The final conference in Brussels end of March 2010 will summarise the results and conclusions on the measures to be undertaken.
For more information and subscription:
Agenda on conferences “Strengthening European small and medium sized enterprises in the defence sector” |
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2010-04-15/16, Istanbul, Turkey, EBAN 10th Annual Congress & 5th Awards Ceremony 2010
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Representatives of the early stage investor community will meet in Istanbul on April 15th and 16th 2010 on the occasion of EBAN's 10th Annual Congress and 5th Award Ceremony. This event is the leading awareness raising gathering of early stage investors in Europe and will be organised by EBAN and the Middle East Technical University's Technopolis' business angel network - METUTECH-BAN. The event aims to share best practices, raise awareness and build relations among thousands of investors and other financial actors involved in closing the equity gap and interested in collaborating and investing together.
For more information:
Website EBAN Congress 2010 |
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Service and Information |
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Spanish Presidency proposals for economic growth and job creation
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The Spanish Presidency's strategy to combat the economic crisis and promote new policies, in a coordinated fashion, which consolidate recovery and begin the path towards sustainable growth and job creation, received the support of its European partners and the EU institutions. The Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union, Diego López Garrido, during the Extraordinary Informal Meeting of the European Council of 11 February, supported the idea of "going further than just monetary union and moving towards an economic union". He hopes that the first steps in this direction will be taken at the meeting of Heads of State and Government in March.
For more information:
Spanish EU Presidency_News 14/01/2010
Spanish EU Presidency_News 16/02/2010 |
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Antonio Tajani: the new EU Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship
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SME UNION welcomes Mr. Antonio Tajani, the Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship from Italy. On Monday 18 January, he was questioned from members of the industry, research and energy committee (MEPs from the European Parliament) on issues concerning European enterprises, the automotive sector, economic growth and improving competitiveness. MEPs were also interested in a possible revision of the REACH legislation, the influence of lobbyists and cutting the red tape burdening businesses.
For more information:
Entreprise and Industry Website
EP Press Service, 18/01/2010 |
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Romania Belgium Business Club in Brussels the gate to new co-operation and networking opportunities
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The Club was created at the initiative of the Romanian Embassy in Brussels and of a number of Romanian and Belgian entrepreneurs and organizations. The Club intends to provide information on the two countries’ business environment and economic profile, to facilitate contacts between Romanian and Belgian companies, policy-makers, European institutions and Romanian and Belgian academia’s representatives, to promote and enhance visibility of businesses, to stimulate debates and exchanges of opinions, particularly between employers’ associations.
For more information:
Romania Belgium Busienss Club |
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SME UNION President meets Cleveland delegation in Brussels
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On Wednesday 24th March 2010, Peter Jungen, SME UNION President, and Nadezhda Neynsky MEP, Chairperson of SME Union Bulgaria and Vice President of SME UNION, will host a business delegation from Cleveland in Brussels. The delegation will include: Thomas Waltermire – CEO of Team NEO, Joseph Roman – President and CEO of Greater Cleveland Partnership, Jorge Delgado – Director International Relations of Cleveland Foundation.
For more information:
Nadezhda Neynsky MEP Office |
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2010-05-24/27, Cleveland, USA, Business Symposium for European SMEs
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SME Union Bulgaria US office organizes with the City of Cleveland a Business symposium on “Invest and Work in Cleveland” for European SMEs interested in starting new activities in the United States. The targets are companies dealing with medical devices, renewable energy, food processing, financial matters, back-office services and information & technology. The event will be held on 24/27 May 2010 in Cleveland (USA) where the enterprise representatives will meet the Mayor of Cleveland, the local Chambers of Commerce, some international business organizations and potential trade partners. Further information will come.
For more information:
Contact Email Dimitar Ivanov |
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SME help centres across the world
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The EU executive is planning to open a string of new offices across the world to help small businesses expand into new markets. Millions of euro will be pumped into overseas advice centres to help European companies grappling with the legal and cultural challenges of working in new markets. Funding has already been provided for the establishment of offices in India and China, although the latter has yet to open its doors due to wrangling over which organisation should run it.
For more information:
EurActive Article, 15/01/2010 |
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SMEs have an easier access to information on standards in China
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SMEs lack resources and face a language barrier when trying to obtain information on standards in China. This will be made easier with an upgraded Standardisation Information Platform decided with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Brussels. With the help of the platform, enterprises interested in accessing the Chinese and European markets can easily find all the information they need on European and Chinese standards, whether already adopted or under elaboration. The information - to a large extent in English and Chinese - is free of charge. Currently the platform exists as a pilot project. The aim of the MoU just signed is to shape, develop and define the platform activities as well as the role of the co-operating partners. The extended services should become available in two months. The signatories were the European Commission (Directorate General Enterprise), EFTA, the European Standardisation Organisations CEN/CENELEC/ETSI and the Standardisation Administration of China (SAC). This agreement follows the launch of the platform on 16 October 2009 in Brussels and on 4 November 2009 in Beijing.
For more information:
DG Enterprise and Industry Newsroom, 20/01/2010 |
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Learning from Peers/e-Business cases
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200 brand new e-Business case studies are now available on-line. 200 success stories on the merits of e-Business practices are there to inspire their peers, other SMEs that may still be hesitating to do the first step.
For more information:
Learning from Peers. Best practices amongst European SMEs
SME Competitiveness with ICT |
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European Commission Open Consultation on the international financial reporting standard for small and medium-sized entities
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The objective of this consultation is to gain an understanding of EU stakeholders' views on the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for Small and Medium-sized Entities (SMEs) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board on 9 July 2009. The Commission is especially interested to receive comments from the users of accounts, such as business, banks and investors. Deadline: 12 March 2010.
For more information:
EC Consultation on the international financial reporting standard for small and medium-sized entities |
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Open Call for Proposals: European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors
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This action seeks to support the implementation of the Small Business Act and in particular its first Principle: "Create an environment in which entrepreneurs and family businesses can thrive and entrepreneurship is rewarded". It sets out to encourage entrepreneurship among women by creating the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors. The Network of Ambassadors aims to have successful entrepreneurs campaigning on the ground to encourage women — including women in active professional life and students — to set up their own businesses and become entrepreneurs. The ambassadors will seek to make women more confident about setting up and creating successful businesses. They also will act as role models, to inspire other women to become entrepreneurs by ‘telling their story’. Deadline: 12 March 2010.
For more information:
Call European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors |
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Training and education call welcomes SME participation
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The EU Lifelong Learning Programme has published its 2010 call for proposals. As part of its remit to offer training and education opportunities to people at all stages of their lives, the programme aims to enlist the support of enterprises such as SMEs. A key priority is to support projects that strengthen the link between educational studies and future skills and employment needs. The objective is to promote business input into course design, which will help to ensure that training and education programmes are better tailored to match the needs of the economy. Call deadlines vary depending on which part of the Lifelong Learning Programme submissions relate to, though most expire in March 2010.
For more information:
Lifelong Learning Programme – 2010 call for proposals published |
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2009-10-31, Sofia, SME UNION President at the Conference on Chances and Challenges for SMEs in Times of Crises
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Peter Jungen was invited to open the Conference on "Chances and Challenges for SMEs in Times of Crises" organised by SME Union of GERB and in cooperation with SME UNION, in Sofia, on Saturday 31st October 2009. Our President focused on the general economic situation of the country. The World Bank classifies it as an "upper-middle-income economy" because Bulgaria has experienced a rapid economic growth in recent years even though it continues to rank as the lowest-income member state of the EU. Bulgaria has many challenges to win (corruption problems and an apparent lack of willingness to tackle high-level corruption are the reasons why the European Union has partly frozen EU funds of about eur450 million) and Bulgarian small and medium enterprises have continuously grown over the last years in terms of turnover, added value, jobs and export and they can represent the answer to overcome the crisis.
For more information:
Conference Programme |
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2009-11-18, Brussels, SME UNION Working Dinner on Biofueling Europe: Sustainable Production
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The SME UNION initiated a Working Dinner on Wednesday 18 November 2009 in the Hotel Renaissance, hosting a Malaysian Delegation, on: “Biofueling Europe: Sustainable Production”. The speakers tried to show possible innovative options for creating biofuels on the basis of a sustainable production in the European market. Patrick Voller, Secretary General of the SME UNION of the EPP, opened the Working Dinner with a warm welcome to the speakers and the participants. He highlighted that Biofueling is a strategic topic particularly for SMEs, especially considering the transportation costs of goods. Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok, Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, at his first visit in Brussels as a Member of the Malaysian Delegation, pointed out the importance of the EU for Malaysia as a trade partner: renewable fuels and vegetable oils are important commodities not only within the trade discussion but also dealing with the future of renewable energy. Palm oil can be considered as an alternative to other available vegetable oils and fats. He pointed out that nowadays the main question is: “Can sustainable biofuel development and trade go hand-in-hand with profit?”. |
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Bendt Bendtsen MEP, President of SME Circle, Member of Committee on Industry and Research in the EP, highlighted that achieving the necessary reductions in terms of emission is a challenge. Renewable sources are gaining importance giving the European Union an opportunity to be able to create the first generation of “biofueling” and he underlined the importance that a technological development has to take place in order to achieve this result. Furthermore he focused on sustainability, a keyword for the future. Paul Hodson, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Energy and Transport, European Commission, dealt with the concrete problems related to those renewable sources (the whole transport sector is dependent on oil) and some possible alternatives like hybrid-, hydrogen-, electrical- vehicles even if, in his opinion, biofuels still are the best solution and the European Commission is working on a second biofuel generation, that by 2020 should reach the ambitious 10 % biofuel target. Emmanuel Desplechin, UNICA- Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, said that in Brazil they started in the 70s to grow sugarcane for energy uses and now this is the top source of renewable energy and in addition to that they have an increase in biofuel energy: nearly 85 % of their ethanol production is consumed in Brazil where the surplus is exported. He said that sustainable criteria must be showed to the consumers so to let them appreciate the advantages of this kind of energy. |
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Tan Sri Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, started with a question: “Biofueling or Biofooling Europe?”. He explained that in Malaysia 50% of the forests are used for growing palms to produce palm oil and he highlighted that Malaysia can not build up new forests because they already have to keep their carbon dioxide level. Nevertheless palm oil is an efficient crop and it offers nine times as much energy as soya oil can offer. Because of carbon emission savings are important, he pointed out the potential palm oil has. Yusof Basiron added that Malaysia could cooperate in sharing the techniques and the knowledge with African countries, for instance. Unfortunately, because of an EU directive, palm oil is an unaccepted source and so the question which is still open is “Why?” (“Maybe just because palm oil tree is a powerful product for trade and the answer for renewable energy” was the suggestion of Yusof Basiron). The Working Dinner ended with an interesting and active discussion between the Malaysian Minister, the Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission and the participants at the event. |
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2009-11-18, Brussels, SME UNION President at Orgalime Dinner in the framework of Orgalime General Assembly
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Peter Jungen attended a dinner in the framework of Orgalime General Assembly (Brussels, 18/19 November 2009). The distinguished guests were welcomed by Robert Mahler, President of Orgalime, and Paul Rübig MEP, President of SME Global.
For more information:
General Assembly Programme |
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2009-11-19, Brussels, SME UNION Working Breakfast on Climate Change – Green, the new black
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The SME UNION and ORGALIME, the European federation representing the interests by the EU institutions of the European mechanical, electrical, electronic and metal articles industries as a whole, initiated a Working Breakfast on Thursday 19 November 2009, in the European Parliament on the topic: “Climate Change – Green, the new black?”. The speakers were moderated by Jo Leinen, MEP, Committee on Environment; Public Health and Food Safety. Bendt Bendtson, MEP, President of SME Circle, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, underlined the importance climate change (like the economic crisis) has and that it has had on the European Agenda for the last years. The keynote speaker, Jan Kamminga, President of FME-CWM Association of Enterprises in the Technological Industrial Sector, focused on the importance to diminish red tape and push the industries towards sustainability in order to face the upcoming competitors (United States, China, India and Japan). He pointed out that we are still far from a real “green” technology which is still too expensive. As US President Barack Obama said, the new open competition is addressed to those companies which will bring “green” technology to the market. |
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Claude Turmes, MEP, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, opened his speech saying that the “new deal” is now represented by “green technologies”. SMEs should profit from the advantages of this “updated” legislation (with very ambitious targets), following the “green innovation” (as promoted the European Commission). Zofia Tucinska, Swedish Presidency, Counselor (Brussels), Climate Change, Waste and Recycling, Air Quantity, Environment Technology, talked about the upcoming Copenhagen Summit where there would be important legal negotiations on emission decrease standards and funds for green technologies. She pointed out the importance the EU has in promoting smart (means green) technology. |
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Giuliano Monizza, Vice-President ANIE Energy, the association of the electrical engineering industries, stated that in Europe there is an “old” industrial system compared to the Asian standards. He dealt with the importance to motivate stakeholders to invest in green in order to speed up this quite long procedure towards “smart” technologies and so he stressed the importance held by the European Institutions in order to move to a kind of “2nd Industrial Revolution”. After the speeches, the audit could spend some time asking questions to the speakers. |
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2009-11-19, Brussels, SME UNION Working Breakfast on Manufacturing Matters
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The SME UNION and ORGALIME initiated a Working Breakfast on 19 November 2009 on the topic: “Manufacturing Matters-11 million employees can´t be wrong”. The debate focused on SMEs. They represent 95% of the European industry and are essential for the European Union future and prosperity – economically and socially. Malcolm Harbour MEP, Chair, Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, moderated and introduced the debate. Joseph Daul MEP, President of the EPP Group, stressed the importance of the Social Market Economy. Robert Mahler President of ORGALIME, underlined that SMEs are the backbone of the EU industry and the common background makes them have common problems. Therefore the policies (such as those for a “green smart” regulation) should always be more integrated in order to create a higher growth rate and new jobs. |
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Vittorio Prodi MEP, Member, Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, claimed that the European Parliament must continue this “more integrated” direction so that industries and regulation could work hand in hand in generating future innovation (an example could be the use of gas instead of electricity). Eckart Lüling, Member of the Board of WSM, said that SMEs are very dependent on larger customers and recently they are often in trouble in defending their positions. He said that it should be the time to create more competitive market conditions for raw materials. |
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Alexandra Jour-Schroeder, European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry, Head of Unit Mechanical, Electrical and Telecom Equipment, claimed that we should stimulate growth using resources in a more efficient way, proposing a list of actions dealing with energy supply infrastructure (as regard power generation, transmission and distribution) and energy efficient installation (in older buildings) even in transport means. Several times during the Working Breakfast, the importance of the European Institutions was emphasized in providing the regulatory frameworks that will allow a fair and free trading place. The audience contributed with comments and remarks to this and other final conclusions. |
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2009-11-21, Belgrade, SME UNION President opened the IX International Congress of Serbian SME Association and Belgrade Chamber of Commerce
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In the view of developing and improving SMEs and entrepreneurship, Belgrade Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with Serbian SME Association (SA SME) organized the IX International Congress on SMEs and entrepreneurship on November 21, 2009, in the Sava Centre, on “Challenges SMEs face on their way to EU at the time of global financial crisis”. On that occasion representatives of the leading international institutions in the field of SMEs were guests of the Belgrade and Serbian business community at the Congress. Peter Jungen, after having opened the Conference, presented the European best practices in the field of SMEs. President of the SME UNION of the European People’s Party, Sergio Arzeni, Director of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development, Andrea Benassi, Secretary General of UEAPME (the biggest European association of SMEs, entrepreneurs and craftsmen), Christian Weinberger, DG Enterprise and Industry European Commission as well as by the representatives of the European Parliament and the French, Bulgarian, Austrian and Italian Parliaments, representatives of the Ministry of the Republic of Serbia, representatives of Belgrade City Administration, numerous republic agencies, Diplomatic core and other partners were included in the programs and activities for the support of the Serbian SMEs. The Congress was also attended by 200 SMEs and entrepreneurs. |
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The main topics of the conference were the challenges SMEs face and the corresponding best practices in the EU. Having in mind the nature of the global economic crisis, the speakers highlighted the multilayer nature of the crisis and the fact that it had not only affected the financial sector, but also entrepreneurs throughout the world. They had not been responsible for its occurrence but nevertheless had become victims of the wrong business models in the financial sector. According to Mr. Frank Engel, Member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg, the SME sector was not particularly interested in trade with “exotic” financial instruments and the stock exchange, as SMEs can not influence the trends in global trade, because their business activities are mostly limited to national borders. The conclusion is that the SME sector has become a victim of a crisis it has not provoked. The support mechanisms have to be adjusted to specific features of the sector and the needs of entrepreneurs. Such mechanisms exist and are being used in the EU countries, because the key role of small businesses has been recognized in creating new working places after the collapse of the financial market and many industrial giants. |
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Some of the examples of good practices are as follows: recommendation of the British Government for the public sector to pay up its liabilities to the private sector within 10 days after the completion of the business activity which is important for the solvency of the SMEs; establishment of one-stop administrative reference points for SMEs; successful models and programs for development of modern entrepreneurial skills and education; encouragement of start-ups; innovative models for financing of small businesses - cooperatives, business angels and new forms of investment funds (green, high technology and SME funds, business angels, etc.). Belgrade Chamber of Commerce strongly advocates further development of the SME sector and protection of the interest of small businesses; therefore, conclusions and recommendations from the Congress will be distributed to all relevant state institutions, participants and other interested business people and individuals. |
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2009-12-02, Brussels, Farewell Reception for the outgoing Secretary General of SME UNION Patrick Voller
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Before becoming International Secretary General of the Austrian People´s Party (Leiter des Internationalen Büro der ÖVP, Internationalen Büro der ÖVP), Patrick Voller invited friends of the SME UNION to celebrate his six years (2003-2009) as SME UNION Secretary General, raising the glasses to new challenging and professional experiences. |
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During the reception, many SME UNION members and friends took the floor to wish farewell to the former Secretary General. Among the others:
• Bendt Bendtsen MEP, President of the SME Circle
• Luc Vandeputte, EPP Deputy Secretary General
• Malcolm Harbour MEP, former SME UNION Presidency Member
• Patrick Moulin, SME Union France, President of SME Defence & Security Working Group
• Reinhard Sandbichler, SME Health, Styrian SME Union
Ingo Friedrich, SME UNION Honorary President handed over the present on behalf of the SME UNION, SME UNION Presidency, Members, Working Groups, Patrons, Friends, SME Circle, EPP. |
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2009-12-03, Brussels, SME UNION Working Breakfast on Building a “zone of mutual trust” for the marketing sector
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The SME UNION and the European Marketing Confederation (EMC) initiated a Working Breakfast on Thursday 3 December 2009, in the European Parliament, on the topic: “Building a zone of mutual trust for the marketing sector”. Paul Rübig, MEP, President of SME Global and Member of the EP Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, introduced the speakers and underlined the importance of the results of the Leonardo European Qualification Framework (EQF) project for improved cooperation between sectorial organizations and national authorities in the development of the European Qualification Framework. Francis PETEL, Chairman, International Committee EMQF AEG, European Marketing Confederation, explained in a detailed and complete way the main aspects of the study and underlined the importance of a high level of cooperation and an integrated approach between the national organizations in order to identify standards in the qualifications (EU Sector Qualifications) and to “bridge” the academic definitions with the real professional ones. |
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Michel Aribaud, Policy Officer - Vocational Education and Training: European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training, DG Education and Culture, European Commission, put the emphasis on the practical (national) recognition problem because there is a sort of “jungle” of 27 different qualification systems. He went into details explaining the meaning of some definitions (like qualification system, credit point system) and underlined the results already achieved. He mentioned several times the improvements that still must be done. |
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The speaker from CEO SSETA (Services Sector Education and Training Authority – South Africa) talked about the Southern Africa experience as they are involved in an European Commission project. She briefly talked about the situation in her country where a high number of professional workers are related to marketing issues and almost ¾ of them to SMEs. Before the end of the Working Breakfast, some questions were answered by the speakers during a short but interesting debate. |
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2009-12-09, Bonn, SME UNION Political Entrepreneurship Award 2009 Ceremony to PM Valdis Dombrovskis
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On Wednesday 9 December 2009, during the EPP Congress in Bonn, Peter Jungen, SME UNION President, awarded the Political Entrepreneurship Award 2009 to Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Latvia. His speech was followed by the laudatio of Alojz Peterle MEP, Vice-President of the European People’s Party, former Prime Minister of Slovenia. In the previous years, this distinction has been awarded to Christine Lagarde, French Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment and Philippe Maystad, President of the European Investment Bank, former Finance Minister of Belgium. |
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The Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, former MEP and SME UNION Vice-President, was awarded for outstanding achievements for European SMEs. Author of many publications on economics and politics in various and prestigious periodicals, journals and electronic media, Vladis Dombrovskis was the founder and member of the party “The New Era” in Latvia. |
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2010-01-10, Sofia, SME UNION President at the National Assembly of GERB
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Peter Jungen participated to the National Assembly organized by Bulgaria's ruling party: " The Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria" known by its Bulgarian-language abbreviation as GERB.
For more information:
Contact Dimitar Avramov, SME Union GERB President |
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2010-02-11/12, Budapest, SME UNION President attended the XV. Conference on EU Integrations
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Peter Jungen participated to the "XV. Conference on EU Integrations" organized by our Hungarian SME UNION member KKVE/HASME in cooperation with SME UNION of the EPP. György Bisztray, KKVE President and President of SME Union Hungary, opened the Conference focusing on the situation of SMEs in Hungary seventeen months after the economic crises. Peter Jungen, SME UNION President and Member of the EPP-IMF delegation, focused his speech on the worldwide situation of SMEs in a the panel moderated by Zsolt Becsey (former EPP MEP, President of Seven Border Union and Honorary President of KKVE).
For more information:
Conference Programme |
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2010-02-19, Damascus, SME UNION President Peter Jungen invited speaker at the Euro-Arab Conference to Support Small and Medium Enterprises
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SME UNION President Peter Jungen was invited as speaker to the Euro-Arab Conference to Support Small and Medium Enterprises. This conference was organised in cooperation with SSP (SME Support Programme, a financing programme
developed in the framework of the European Union). Emmanuel Berck, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Enterprise, European Commission, explained the success factors and good practices for Arab countries derived from the EU SME policy. Peter Jungen focused on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Culture in a Globalising World. The aim of the event was to strengthen the ties and partnerships between European and Arab nations in the SME sector and to achieve maximum benefit from the existing programs and funds launched by governments on both sides for the purpose of assisting SMEs in development.
For more information:
SME UNION Press Release, 19/02/2010
Conference Programme |
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2010-02-25/26, Navarra, SME UNION President invited speaker at the Conference on The Future of Europe
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Peter Jungen, SME UNION President, has been invited by the University of Navarra, in the framework of the conference "The Future of Europe. Identity, Values and Frontiers". He discussed with the participants “The Future of the EU-Economy-Innovation and Entrepreneurship” in an effort to promote the importance of innovation in a knowledge based economy.
For more information:
Conference Programme
Event Programme |
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2010-02-23/28, Brussels, European Democrat Students (EDS) - XX. Winter University
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The EDS Winter University 2010 (23-28 February 2010) is organized by EDS in co-operation with edH and CDS Belgium, and the kind support of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Robert Schuman, Hanns Seidel Foundation and International Republican Institute. On Wednesday 24th February 2010, SME UNION President, Peter Jungen attended the event Official Opening. Keynote speaker was Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, who tackled the topic:"Europe as a global actor – 20 years after". Wilfried Martens, President of the European People´s Party, gave a speech on "Europe – I struggle, I overcome”. In the afternoon, the event ended with a speech by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission on the Agenda for the Youth.
For more information:
EDS - Winter University Website |
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Late Payment: MEPs set to change late payment plans
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Commission's intention to impose a flat-rate penalty on authorities that pay late is deemed 'excessive'. The European Parliament is expected to make major changes to European Commission plans for penalising public authorities that pay their contractors late.
Committee vote: April 2010. Plenary vote: May 2010 (tbc).
For more information:
European Parliament Press Service, 27/01/2010
EP Legislative Observatory |
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Microfinance facilities for SMEs
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An agreement on this issue reached between MEPs in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee and the Spanish Presidency was endorsed by the full Parliament by 511 votes to 95, with 11 abstentions. Under the compromise, EUR 60 million will come from the Progress programme and EUR 40 million from unallocated margins in the EU budget. For 2010, Parliament and Council have already agreed to release EUR 25 million from the 2010 EU budget.
For more information:
European Parliament Press Service, 11/02/2010
European Microfinance Facility for Employment and Social Inclusion, 11/02/2010 |
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| Newsletter January/February 2010 |
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