7 Amendments of Jean Marie BEAUPUY related to 2008/2237(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that the Commission has set in place a comprehensive political framework for SMEs and with it has given a clear signal for the key role of the SMEs in economic growth, employment, social cohesion and innovation in Europe; stresses that currently most jobs being created in Europe are in SMEs and that the majority of the new jobs being created are in craft industries and small businesses;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Sees a need for further development of the Small Business Act in the area of labour law, especiallythrough active policies in respect of the job market, modernising social protection systems to make work pay and investment in lifelong learning, in view of the concept of flexicurity principle, which enables SMEs in particular to respond more quickly to changes in the market and therefore to guarantee a higher level of employment and the competitiveness of the company, as well as international competitiveness, while taking into account the necessary social protection; in this connection refers to its resolution of 29 November 2007 on flexicurity; stresses that one of the main pillars of flexicurity is a simple and, predictable and sufficiently supple labour law, which is of crucial importance to craft industries and SMEs in particular, because these businesses often cannot afford to have a legal departmentrequire greater internal and external flexibility owing to their low staffing levels and often cannot afford to have a legal department or a human resources management department; points out that 91.5% of European companies employ fewer than 10 people (source: Eurostat, 2003);
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses, to that effect, the need to ensure that the diversity of SMEs is taken into account in the responses adopted, including as regards single-person limited liability businesses and/or individual undertakings which, owing to their statute, face specific problems in terms of development and in the field of social and fiscal matters and access to financing;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Considers it necessary to introduce measures to combat undeclared work, which is unarguably a source of unfair competition for highly labour-intensive SMEs;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is concerned about the continuing lack of qualified workforce, a situation which will worsen further in the future; points out that SMEs are in competition with larger businesses for qualified workers and that they should be supported particularly with targeted staff development and trainingwith training, and particularly vocational training, and in the acquisition, development and transmission of their staff’s skills; welcomes in this connection the measures the Commission has takenannounced in the Small Business Act for cross-border experience exchanges for young business people, journeymen and apprentices (Erasmus) and requests that these be implemented rapidly in order finally to eliminate the obstacles to their mobility;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the European and national public authorities to provide strong support for craft industries and SMEs as regards the functioning of the job markets and to apply the principles of flexicurity, with a view to ensuring, inter alia, a degree of security to the heads, as well as the employees, of small enterprises, by: – devising institutional financial solutions for SMEs at a supra-enterprise level in order to help them commit more actively to continuous and lifelong training, – ensuring the availability on the market of tailor-made training that matches the specific requirements of SMEs at affordable prices, – supporting SMEs with flanking measures, such as advisory services in the field of internal flexibility (concerning, for example, new models for the organisation of working time) or ones helping SMEs offer better conditions for the reconciliation of family and working life;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Points out that the problems in the business transfer process and the impact of an ageing population place almost 2.8 million jobs at risk every year; therefore requests the Member States swiftly to implement suitable policies and mechanisms, in particular by introducing diagnostic, information, advisory and support tools for the heads of enterprises concerned by business transfers;