Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-04-Speech-3-318"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20090204.18.3-318"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Let me begin by saying that I appreciate the question on SMEs, because during this current economic crisis the big businesses and the big companies are always strong enough to lobby for some relief, but it is much more difficult for SMEs and it certainly requires a systemic approach.
Moreover, the Presidency will try to make progress in the implementation of the action plan and put this SME policy at the forefront of society as well as linking the implementation of the action plan to the national reform programmes of all the Member States.
The Presidency will also continue with the increased effort of discussing legislative proposals related to SMEs, such as the regulation on the Statute for a European Private Company, which would offer SMEs a form of business enabling them to take advantage of their potential and develop cross-border activities.
Another legislative proposal I should mention is the proposed directive for reduced VAT rates for labour-intensive services, which will be discussed at the upcoming ECOFIN Councils.
In addition, the Council will be concerned with the review of the Late Payment Directive, which is now being prepared and which is to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises are paid in time for all business transactions. Again, that is pretty important in the current situation.
On 1 December 2008, as you know, the Council endorsed the European Economic Recovery Plan, which was presented by the Commission on 26 November 2008. As a response to the financial crisis, the Council supported a stimulus which is equivalent to about 1.5% of the EU’s gross domestic product to restore business and consumer confidence. Furthermore, the plan contains specific measures to support SMEs, the most important of which are those aimed at improving access to finance for SMEs and reducing the administrative burden.
The Council also agreed that improvements in the framework conditions for European businesses, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, was essential to counter the effect of the crisis on competitiveness and to support and enhance job creation.
The Council also adopted two sets of conclusions related to providing support for SMEs, in the context of overall competitiveness. Firstly, conclusions endorsing proposals to support SMEs presented in the Commission Communication entitled, as you probably know, ‘Think Small First: a Small Business Act for Europe’, this so-called SBA, including an action plan outlining the priority measures requiring particular attention.
Secondly, conclusions from the Commission communication entitled ‘Towards world-class clusters in the European Union – implementing the broad-based innovation strategy’. Although clusters are not exclusively meant for the SMEs, they play an important role in many clusters that have been set up throughout the EU.
At its meeting in mid-December 2008, the European Council approved this European Economic Recovery Plan and supported the full implementation of the Action Plan for the Small Business Act. It has specifically supported an increase in the intervention by the European Investment Bank to the tune of EUR 30 billion for the years 2009-2010, especially for loans to SMEs, which amount to an increase of EUR 10 million over the EIB usual lending in this sector.
The Council also supported a temporary exemption for two years beyond the
threshold for state aid in respect of an amount of up to EUR 50 000 and the adaptation of the state aid framework as required to increase support for enterprises, especially the SMEs.
The Council also called for the use of accelerated procedures for awarding public contracts provided for EC legislation, as well as for reducing the administrative burden on businesses.
The Czech Presidency will continue to pursue this effort, because our economy is broadly based on SMEs, so we have our own experience with that. Therefore, both of the forthcoming Competitiveness Councils under the Czech Presidency – one will take place very soon in early March, as well as the informal one which will take place in Prague – will tackle the question of reducing the administrative burden, since we believe that better regulation is an important factor for improving competitiveness, in particular for SMEs, and it plays an even more important role in times of economic crisis."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples