Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-11-Speech-2-103"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20011211.6.2-103"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
The policy being applied by the European Union and the Member States is forcing hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into bankruptcy every year, because they are unable to withstand the onslaught of the monopolies. With the signs of a slump in the economy becoming more and more marked, SMEs and jobs are the first to go and the generally limited and short-term jobs linked to the occasional subsidy do nothing to counteract this.
The Commission proposal merely serves the objective of reinforcing the European venture capital market by setting up financial intermediaries, who are neither controlled nor operate on the basis of job-creating criteria.
In most cases, SMEs do not receive direct funding, in that applications must be addressed to intermediaries, generally conventional ‘risk and investment capital funds’ which are guaranteed by the EIB and which receive credits and guarantees from it. Thus, in the final analysis, no one apart from the European Investment Bank, knows which SME is being supported and what funding plans and jobs will result.
These intermediary financial organisations, which have signed contracts with the European Investment Fund, tend to favour early stage investments in high technology sectors such as information technology, communications and the biosciences.
So exactly what aid and which SMEs are we talking about, given that traditional small and medium-sized enterprises, small handicraft enterprises and tourist and commercial enterprises fall outside the funding framework, despite the fact that they are able to promote innovative products? The highly important specific weight of SMEs in the economy of each country is being ignored, despite its having been proven that they represent the backbone of the business sector in Europe and are the only enterprises to have created any jobs over recent years.
The unequal geographical distribution of this aid is also typical of growing regional inequalities between the Member States, in that over half this funding (be it in the form of start-up aid or the guarantee mechanism) will go to France and Germany, while in Greece, for example, this aid is non-existent because there is no venture capital market to speak of.
We harbour no illusions as to the nature of the EU's employment policy or its policy on SMEs, which is basically non-existent, or the interests which that policy represents, which is why we feel that any reference to employment, to fighting unemployment and to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises within the guidelines for this policy is pure hypocrisy.
Faced with these choices, the workers and small and medium-sized businessmen are joining forces in their fight and struggle to overturn this policy and promote a different policy which takes account of man and his present-day needs."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples