18 Amendments of Antonio TAJANI related to 2014/2210(INI)
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas it is impossible, due to the lack of a definition, to gather comparable data in the EU Member States in order to draw attention to the special situation and economic accomplishments of family businesses;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that, because of their history, family businesses are very rooted in a particular location and thus also create and preserve jobs in rural and in less attractive areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to provide the necessary infrastructure in order to ensure the competitiveness of such businesses;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that, because of their history, family businesses are very rooted in a particular location and thus also create jobs in rural and in less attractive areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to provide the necessary infrastructure in order to ensure the competitiveness of such businesses; and to consider these as clusters which would facilitate cross-sectoral and cross- border collaboration, thus, helping them, in particular micro-entities and start- ups, to grow and internationalise;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Acknowledges that much of the private-sector workforce is to be found in family businesses; underscores the fact, accordingly, that all improvements as regards the survival and growth of family businesses also benefit the European economy as a whole;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Points out that, in agriculture, family farms are the most common business model; notes that, because land is owned, family farms are extremely rooted in a particular location; calls therefore on the Commission and Member States to ensure that the survival of family farms is not jeopardised by, in particular, excessive red tape;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that highly specialised family businesses in particular play an important role as suppliers to, and innovators for, larger companies and that, given their long- term and intergenerational approach to business, they provide the companies they supply with material security and thereby make a significant contribution to economic growth;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States, with this in mind, to ensure that national rules on the taxation of inheritance and gifts and on corporate taxation do not discriminate against equity financing, which is so vital for family businesses, but, rather, support it; calls on the Member States furthermore, from a competition point of view, not to grant preferential tax treatment for the debt financing of entrepreneurial investment and innovations; points out, in this connection, that in Hungary inheritance tax on business assets has been abolished;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to consider extending the beneficiaries of all existing instruments for SMEs and / or entrepreneurs in particular COSME, to family businesses;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that 35% of those companies that do not invest in foreign markets fail to do so because of their lack of knowledge of foreign markets; calls on the Commission and the Member States therefore to provide smaller family businesses in particular with information about opportunities for internationalisation via the SME Internationalisation portal and the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) and ensure that they have access to a better exchange of experience and good practices; calls on the Member States, furthermore, to provide support services for businesses that intend to invest internationally, for example by providing them with information or export credit guarantees and by removing trade barriers;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes that the tax, legal and administrative environment in which family businesses and owner-managed businesses are run is determined by the cumulative effect of company law and private law;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission and, in particular, the Member States to promote specific training for family businesses in business transfers, governance structures, owner strategies and innovating, in particular in countries where, for historical reasons, the family business concept is not as well established; notes that, in the long term, well-functioning vocational-training systems could be instrumental in combating the skilled- worker shortage and youth unemployment;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission and especially the Member States therefore to set up a one-stop shop for family businesses involved in a business transfer, improve the legal framework for the transfer of family businesses and create special financing instruments for transfers and thus prevent liquidity shortages so as to ensure the survival of family businesses and prevent distress sales; notes in this connection that a Family Business Act is being introduced in Malta which aims to support family businesses during the transfer phase, through special training courses, and to create a positive tax and administrative environment;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to commissionregularly commission adequately funded studies that analyse the importance of ownership for the success and survival of a business and highlight the specific challenges facing family businesses, and, together with Eurostat, to formulate a definition of family businesses that is fit for statistical purposes; calls on the Commission also to collect enough data on family businesses in the various Member States both to allow a comparison of the situation of family businesses, and a comparison between family and non-family businesses, and to promote exchanges of examples of good practices;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to conduct an impact assessment of the extent to which a revisionbroadening of the European SME definition from 2003 would be possible, moving away from purely quantitative criteria to qualitative criteria that also take into account the ownership of a company, bearing in mind the interdependence of ownership, control and management, the fact that risk and liability are borne solely by the family itself, and, generally, the personal aspect of running a business, and the consequences this could have on family businesses, for example, with regard to state aid and the eligibility of such businesses;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission in the meantime, as part of its regulatory impact assessment, to establish a ‘family business test’ modelled on the SME testand in particular in connection with policies relating to ownership or governance structures, to establish a ‘family business test’ modelled on the SME test and taking account in particular of the cumulative effect of company law and private law, in order to be able to determine the effect of certain legal acts on family businesses in advance and thereby avoid unnecessary red tape for family businesses;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to establish aset up a high-level group to define the remit of an internal permanent working group internally that specifically addresses the needs and characteristics of family businesses, regularly reports to Parliament and the Member States and acts as a contact at European level for family business for specific issues particularly relating to European legislation;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to strive to strengthen entrepreneurship throughout the EU and to create an positive environment for business excellence;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to draw up, as soon as possible, a communication analysing the role of family businesses with a view to boosting the competitiveness of the EU’s economy by 2020, and to produce a road map listing the measures likely to strengthen the economic environment and development of family businesses in the EU;