31 Amendments of Patrizia TOIA related to 2008/2237(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 (new)
Citation 3 (new)
- having regard to the Council Conclusions of 13 March 2006 on SME policy for growth and employment, adopted at the 2715th Competitiveness Council in Brussels xxx,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU, accounting for around 99% of all enterprises and providing over 100 million jobs, haveplay a fundamental role in contributing to economic growth, social cohesion and job creation, are a major source of innovation and are vital for sustaining and expanding employment,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas SMEs have to be placed at the heart of all European competitiveness policies to enable them to develop and adapt to the demands of globalisation, to participate in the knowledge triangle and to adapt to environmental and energy challenges,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the overwhelming majority of SMEs are often micro enterprises, family businesses and cooperatives which are the natural incubators of entrepreneurial culture and therefore play an important role in enhancing social inclusion and self- employment,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas, despite their differences, Europe’s SMEs face many of the same challenges in realising their full potential, in areas such as relatively higher administration and compliance costs than larger enterprises, access to finance and markets, innovation and the environment, that
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas, as a key contribution to achieving an SME-friendly environment, the perception of the role of entrepreneurs and risk-taking has to change: entrepreneurship and the associated willingness to take risk should be applauded by political leaders and the media, and supported by administrations,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Commission to propose solutions to make the 10 guiding principles and especially the “Think Small First“ principle mandatory in all future Community legislation affecting SMEs;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Hopes that the Commission and Member States will make a strong political commitment to ensuring that the measures adopted in the Small Business Act are actually implemented;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Encourages the setting up of a screening system for the monitoring of the progress of, and implementation by Parliament, the Commission and Member States;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Hopes that measures will swiftly be adopted on the general block exemption in respect of state aids, on the European private company statute and on reduced VAT rates;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the importance of innovation for SMEs and the difficulties in taking advantage of research opportunities; considers it necessary to promote basic research and applied research; believes that the focus should not only be on high-tech innovation, but that also low, mid tech and informal innovation should be considered;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that the main source of funding for SMEs comes from their own activity; calls on Member States to provide better conditions to enable SMEs to reduce costs and reinvest the profit in the companyin Europe still comes from credits and loans; but increased risk sensitivity of the financial institutions endangers the necessary access for more and more companies and calls on all institutions to ensure access to finance throughout the current crisis and to strengthen the capacity of SMEs in relation to its own funds by reinvesting profits;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the Member States to create better conditions allowing SMEs to invest in skills training, not least through direct tax cuts and compensation arrangements between tax authorities and the European Union;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recognises that capital taxation systems can be a deterrent to the transfer of businesses, in particular family businesses, increasing the risk of liquidation or closure of the company; calls on Member States to review carefully their legal and fiscal framework to improve the conditions for transfer of businesses, employment and reinvestment of profit;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to devise tangible new solutions which remove the obstacle of the guarantees needed to access credit, including trying out new forms of support that supplement the current credit consortia procedures;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is very satisfied with the recent ‘Lisbonisation’ of the cohesion policy; believes that, by directing regional funds more towards entrepreneurship, initiatives in support of SMEs (e.g. under the JEREMIE Programme), basic and applied research and innovation, considerable funds could become available at local level to enhance business potential;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Emphasises the important role of the EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF) in improving financing available to SMEs, particularly given the current financial turmoil and its repercussions on the credit market; invites the Commission to investigate further how current banking rules and other financial regulations could be improved to ease access to finance for SMEs;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to simplify the procedures for accessing available financing and calls for broader dissemination of the information on the availability of that financing;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to expand financing in connection with microcredit initiatives, awarding particular attention to the activities of young entrepreneurs, especially in the start-up phase;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that public procurement covers around 16% of EU GDP; calls on the Commission and Member States to strengthen SME access to and participation in public procurement through inter aliaby using the opportunities presented in the best practices code presented by the Commission in the framework of the Small Business Act, i.e. by making more use of e-procurement;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Points out that only 8% of all SMEs are involved in cross-border activities, which curtails possibilities for growth; believes that Member States should cooperate in harmonising administrative requirements that affect intra-Community activities; calls on the Member States swiftly to transpose and implement the Services Directive paying special attention to the interests of SMEs;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission continuously to enhance the framework requirements for access of SMEs to foreign markets and to support the provision of information; encourages the setting up of European business support centres in China and India, and in all emerging markets, in close cooperation with national business support centres already operating there; recalls nevertheless that SMEs need better access to information and qualified advice in their home country;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Believes that there is an imperative need to cut red tape by at least 25%whenever possible and to put in place a modern administration adapted to the needs of SMEs, to enable them to save time and money and to devote the resulting resources to their development; believes that being SME- friendly should become mainstream policy, based on the conviction that rules must respect the majority of those who will use them: the “Think Small First” principle;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Emphasises the fundamental importance of evaluating the impact of future legislative initiatives on SMEs; therefore calls for systematic and targeted independent impact assessments for SMEs, a so called ‘SME test’ for all new proposals for EU legislation affecting business; specific attention should be paid to the impact on small and micro enterprises;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Points out that the Commission’s existing consultation period of 8 weeks should be extended to at least 12 weeks and that the consultation documents should be available in all languages; calls on the Commission andrecognises the essential and valuable role of representative business organisations, therefore, calls on the Commission wherever relevant, to integrate systematically also representative SME- organisations to involve SMEs actively and directly in the consultation process, into their advisory expert committees, high level groups and other appropriate fora;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the need for the introduction of common commencement dates for new legislation affecting business at EU leveland national level which should be decided in collaboration with the representative SME-organisations;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Encourages Member States to set up national dedicated information contact points and support agenciinitiatives for SMEs, offering access to various sources of information, structured according to the entire life cycle of a business;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Reiterates that the financial rules governing Community programmes often lead to unnecessarily bureaucratic, long and costly procedures, particularly for the SMEs; calls on the Commission to enhance the role and visibility of the respective SME designates in the different policy areas; calls on the Commission to publish the data concerning the number of SMEs participating in each EU programme; furthermore, encourages all initiatives which enableallowing the development of an "SME spirit" in policy making within public authorities;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Recogniszes that efforts to improve sustainability could become an important source of (eco-) innovation and a key asset for industry's competitiveness; draws attention to the fact that SMEs are oftenmostly not sufficiently aware of new energy efficient and environmentally friendly solutions or do not have the necessary financial resources to acquire them; therefore, invites the Commission to investigate how the Community could help SMEs to become more resource and energy efficient also through an effective implementation of ECAP (European Compliance Assistance Programme) in cooperation with SME and business organisations;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes recent initiatives to assist SMEs in coping with environmental legislation, bysuch as the above-mentioned ECAP, the proposed revised EMAS regulation (which, inter alia grantings them reduced agency fees), ensuring their access to information on environmental standards or introducing specific exemptions from Community legislation;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. At the same time, warns that a specific framework should be put in place by Community Institutions to prepare industry and, more specifically SMEs, for the challenges coming from the recently proposed Sustainable Consumption and Production Action plan (SCP): this means, inter alia, preliminary economic and social impact assessments as well as thresholds and exemptions for products whose impacts on climate change is limited.; at the same time this means preliminary information, longer implementation periods and technical and financial assistance for the SMEs and, particularly the micro and small businesses, which will be impacted upon by the plan; again, this could be achieved through a strengthening of ECAP;