Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-22-Speech-2-010-000"
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"en.20120522.4.2-010-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr Wammen, honourable Members, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lie at the heart of the European economy. We have a total of around 23 million SMEs in Europe, which amounts to 99.8% of European companies. Therefore, the growth and future competitiveness of Europe depend on the competitiveness of our SMEs. The crisis has hit SMEs in the same way as all other businesses. It is generally SMEs which now have greater difficulty in obtaining loans and outside capital. For this reason, there is a public responsibility to help SMEs, so that they do not become victims of credit squeezes and are able to make full use of their potential for innovation. This is why the European Commission has repeatedly taken measures over recent years to give SMEs better access to capital. By adapting existing programmes in 2010 and 2011, the Commission has succeeded in increasing the funding available for financial instruments, such as loans and guarantees, to more than EUR 8.1 billion. This was the situation at the end of 2010. The money has been used to finance a total of 300 different instruments in the Member States and more than 90 000 direct jobs have been created as a result.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Parliament once again for its rapid, committed and ongoing support for the amendments to our regulations. The amendments have been needed over the years to respond to precisely these challenges. For example, working capital has been designated as eligible for subsidies in the context of revolving funds and a significant contribution has also been made to the process of overcoming the crisis, particularly in certain Member States.
In January this year, the Commission took a further step, together with the Member States, and adapted the programmes in such a way that the funding still available could be used specifically to create new jobs. Its initiative also included measures to combat youth unemployment. This reallocation is primarily intended to benefit SMEs, in as far as the funds available still allow for this, because it is SMEs that can create lasting jobs in Europe. I would like to remind everyone that there are around 24 million unemployed people in Europe and 23 million SMEs. In simple terms, if every SME hired one unemployed person, the problem would almost be solved.
This initiative will result in between EUR 5 billion and EUR 8 billion being reallocated, as things stand today. During the next programming period, the Commission has put a clear emphasis on ensuring that SMEs benefit from the Structural Funds. A total of 80% of the money from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in more developed regions and 50% in less developed regions will be spent on these priorities, including innovation in SMEs, renewable energies and energy efficiency. It is important to remember that, in absolute figures, the 50% in the less developed regions amounts to more than the 80% in the more developed regions.
This initiative clearly focuses on the priorities and also sends out a strong signal that we want to improve the competitiveness of SMEs. To achieve this, we must, of course, also work together to make it easier in administrative terms for SMEs to access money from the Structural Funds. I would therefore like to thank the European Parliament for the many proposals it has submitted with the aim of simplifying the administrative processes even further. At the same time, I would like to mention that a significant proportion of the administrative challenges are at national and regional level. For example, we will be making the implementation of the Small Business Act subject to
conditionalities, or at least that is what we have proposed. We need joint efforts at European level and by the Member States on behalf of our SMEs.
I would like to make one final point that has already been mentioned. The definition of the term SME is a frequent topic for discussion. You will be aware that the European Commission regularly reviews this definition and that another independent evaluation is currently under way which will also take into consideration the number of employees and the turnover limits. We are expecting to receive the results of these investigations in the early autumn of 2012. The results will, of course, be discussed openly and on a broad basis. At the moment, I cannot say whether this will lead to a change in the current definition.
Ladies and gentlemen, SMEs form the backbone of the European economy. Over recent weeks and months, many discussions have taken place on the subject of growth and measures to stimulate growth. I would like to make it clear that anyone who wants to take lasting steps to promote growth must begin by increasing the competitiveness of SMEs. The Commission at least is prepared to do this."@en1
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