Christos Kyriatzis,
Acting Head of Unit,
International Affairs and Missions for Growth,
Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry,
European Commission
TAIEX Workshop on SBA
Israel
22 May 2013

1.
99 out 100 European Businesses are SMEs (9 out of ten have less than 10 employees)
2.
They provide 2 out of 3 private sector jobs
3.
85% of new jobs between 2002-2010 in the EU were created by SMEs
=> All efforts to reinforce the EUs global competitive position have to put SMEs central

EU SMEs in the crisis – main trends
Source: Eurostat/National Statistics Offices of Member States/Cambridge Econometrics/Ecorys
Note: 2011 and 2012 figures are estimates.

Guiding principles:
Subsidiarity as the starting point -> SME policy is – first of all- national business
Role of EU focussed on
-> areas where joint EU action may yield value-added
-> issues where the EU as such has the competency to improve the situation of
SMEs

Competition policy
R&D
Internal
Market
Consumer & health protection policies Fiscal policy
Trade policy
SME Policy
Regional policy
Social
Policy
Education
Policy
Environmental
Policy

The EU’s SME Policy
• Adopted in June 2008
• Main objective: create a common framework for
SME initiatives and implement the “Think Small
First” principle
• 10 principles and a set of policy actions to implement them
• SBA Review in 2011

1.
Support entrepreneurship
2.
Give a 2 nd chance (failure)
3.
“Think Small First” (reduce burdens)
4.
Public administration responsive to SME needs (egovernment)
5.
Improve access to public procurement & use of state aid
6.
Facilitate access to finance
7.
Benefit from Single Market opportunities
8.
Access to skills and innovation
9.
Eco-innovation/environment opportunities
10. Access to external markets

SBA Governance
Network of SME
Envoys
SME
Performance
Review
SME
Assembly

SBA Governance
Network of SME Envoys

Governance through cooperation: the example of the SME envoy network (exchange of good practices)
 Key- the work of the SME Envoy network:
• Member States have appointed their national
SME Envoys (regional Envoys can be nominated)
• Meet 3-4 times a year, involving also stakeholders
• Informal meetings between indiv. MS to exchange experiences ever more frequent

SBA Governance
SME
Performance
Review

Regular monitoring of SBA implementation on the MS- level
Smart regulation
Better start-up conditions
Goal: start a business in 3 days for €100

SBA Governance
SME Assembly

SBA governance: interaction with stakeholders
 Example: The consultation on the "ten most burdensome pieces of EU legislation"
• - open from 01 October 2012 to 21 December 2012 (and available in 21 languages)
• - targeting individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the organisations representing their interests
• - Stakeholders were consulted on:
• ~ a list of most burdensome policy areas where either EU and national legislation (or both) could be the cause of the burden.
• ~ a list of 55 specific legislative items (35 directives, 18 regulations, 2 decisions)
•
• - Number of total replies received (16/01/2013): 1000 (more than ¾ from individual SMEs, from which approximately one third of micro-enterprises). (Note: The first phase of the consultation through the
Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) took place from 16 May to 27 June in the form of an SME panel. Around
7000 problematic cases flagged by SMEs through the Europe Enterprise Network – only 2010-2011 used.)
• - Results reported directly to the of Heads of Governments and States in March 2013

4. Complementory support programmes/measures
=>SME Innovation
Example: Horizon 2020
=>SME Finance
Example: COSME
=>SME – access to new markets
Example(s): European Enterprise Network;
IPR Centre China;

Thank you very much for your attention!
***
Contacts:
• Ludger Odenthal
Head, SME Perfomance Review Team
European Commission
DG Enterprise and Industry
Unit D4, Small Business Act, SME Policies
BREY 05/339
B-1049 Brussels/Belgium
+32 229 98657
Ludger.Odenthal@ec.europa.eu
•
• European Small Business Portal
• http://ec.europa.eu/small-business/index_en.htm
• ----------------------------
• SME Performance Review
• http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/performancereview/index_en.htm