Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-05-Speech-2-199"
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"en.20020205.10.2-199"2
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". – The European Commission will publish within a week the annual report on the European Charter for Small Enterprises.
The communication on the impact of the e-Economy on European enterprises contains proposals to deepen cooperation between all relevant stakeholders to develop a policy agenda for maximising the benefits of the e-Economy for European enterprises, taking into account the needs of SMEs. The Industry Council endorsed this proposal in December 2001 and invited the Commission and the Member States to intensify the debate on the e-Economy.
The Spanish Presidency has decided to launch a policy debate with Member States to agree future priorities for the promotion of the e-Economy in Europe and to address this topic at the Industry Council meeting in early June.
To this end it will be necessary to identify policy changes at national and European level to adapt to the needs of the e-Economy. These activities will be developed in close cooperation with the reflections and the preparatory work relating to the future of the eEurope Action Plan.
Through the annual report we monitor progress on the environment for small businesses.
The 2002 report evaluates actions reported by the Member States and the Commission in favour of small businesses. The conclusions of the report will be presented to the Conference of European Ministers responsible for SME policies on 23 February and submitted to the European Council.
As I have already said, the report shows signs of increasing political commitment and major progress has been made in the field of access to finance. Progress has also been made in exchanges of good practice such as cutting red tape in company creation.
As regards the efforts of SMEs to adapt their business practices to the global knowledge-based economy, the Commission launched last year the GoDigital initiative for SMEs as part of the eEurope Action Plan. In some countries this report has received a very positive welcome. We are organising campaigns throughout the European countries at the moment.
Before the end of 2002 a portal to provide SMEs with legal information, guidance and advice will be set up.
The Commission has also just today adopted a Communication on eEurope Benchmarking, where you can follow how SMEs are being connected and how broadly they use eCommerce.
This Commission communication highlights new challenges in relation to Internet usage: broadband is needed to stimulate new services; schools are connected but the Internet is not yet sufficiently part of the pedagogical process; governments online have to move towards full electronic transactions. The indicators include amongst others Internet penetration in business and the percentage of companies selling online.
While good progress has been made, the take-up of eCommerce is not as fast as expected. This confirms the relevance of actions such as GoDigital, but also indicates the urgent need to identify obstacles to eCommerce amongst especially small companies as well as consumers. eEurope should be continued beyond 2002 and shift its focus towards effective usage and availability of the Internet for all citizens and businesses."@en1
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