Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-22-Speech-2-012-000"
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"en.20120522.4.2-012-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it has so often been said that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lie at the heart of the European Union’s economy and this is indeed the case. We are doing a great deal for them. I believe that this is something really special because, in contrast to other large economic areas, we have smaller companies which are competitive on global markets and which are flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions. That is the special feature of SMEs in the European Union and we are providing them with support. They are at the centre of our structural policy not just in the next subsidy period, but also here and now.
We have done a lot to ensure that they can access the money from the Structural Funds more easily. However, I believe that there is potential for further improvement and simplification in this area. When a small company applies for a loan at favourable interest rates, it should not be necessary for the company to fill out reams of forms. I think that there is still room for improvement here.
However, I also believe that by means of an intelligent initiative, we can encourage SMEs to create closer links between economic growth, an innovative approach to economic development and the struggle to reduce youth unemployment levels.
Mr Hahn said in a previous debate that if every company in Europe were to hire just one young person, the problem of youth unemployment would effectively go away. He is right to a certain extent. I am not trying to say that we should insist that money from the European Union will only be made available when companies take on one or two young people. That sort of approach reminds me of my past in the German Democratic Republic, which was also unable to resolve this sort of problem. However, I think it is worth considering how we can establish an intelligent project that could be subsidised by the European Union and would give young people real opportunities for training followed by jobs within companies. Perhaps we will be able to make progress in this area in time for the next subsidy period. However, I must make it clear that I do not want to see merely windfall effects for companies. There must be lasting growth and a lasting reduction in unemployment.
I do have one request for the Commission. I know that the Commission is currently reviewing competition law. It would be very helpful in this respect if we could ensure that regions are not pulled apart and that the subsidy conditions in one region are not completely different from those in another. This would lead to more bureaucracy and make access to subsidy funding much more difficult. I hope that the Commission can come up with a positive proposal in this area which will not result in the regions being torn apart."@en1
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