Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-16-Speech-2-052"
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"en.20010116.5.2-052"2
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"Mr President, the Nice Summit was characterised by weak decisions. However, it will not impede progress towards an ever stronger European Union. When national measures have no effect, that is when Europe comes into play. We are experiencing this with BSE. Suddenly, all sides are calling for effective cross-border consumer protection and robust action where wrongly labelled products are concerned. We are also experiencing this with the fight against unemployment. The SMEs feel the effectiveness of union-wide initiatives for growth and employment, which are designed to underpin the measures introduced by the Member States. One of the first things to come out of this programme is that EUR 450 million is to be made available for growth-orientated SMEs.
On behalf of the PPE-DE Group, I would like to congratulate Philip Bushill-Matthews on his report, which bears witness to his exceptionally detailed knowledge. We concur with his criticism of the Commission for providing too little information too late. Just how are we supposed to oversee matters properly, or even submit solid programme proposals under such enormous pressure of time? We need clarification on which of the three facilities – start-up capital, guarantees, or joint ventures – have achieved the best results, in which States and which sectors companies were set up, whether the small enterprises had access to foreign capital too, or whether statements originating from SME circles are correct, according to which, more than 50 000 new jobs were created simply by means of interest subsidies to the value of EUR 100 million, which age groups are especially required, and to what extent women were involved.
In talking to SMEs in my constituency, I constantly met with complaints that the funds are virtually only ever granted to enterprises in state-of-the-art technology. Other innovative enterprises, from the craft industry for example, ought to qualify, too, to my mind. We must also take greater account of the sustainability of services.
Mr President, let us seize on the initiative emanating from Mr Bushill-Matthews’ excellent report. The more detailed the information, the sooner confidence in EU initiatives will grow."@en1
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