17 Amendments of Nikolaos VAKALIS related to 2008/2237(INI)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Supports warmly the Commission's Communication of 25 June 2008, which aims to drive an ambitious policy agenda to promote SMEs’ growth through the ten10 guiding principles and to anchor the “Think Small First” approach in policy- making at all levels; urges national governments, regional and local authorities, business, socioeconomic and professional organisations, social partners and all other relevant stakeholders to support and gain effective ownership of these guiding principles;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses the need to place particular emphasis on craft, family, micro- and individual enterprises at EU, national and regional level, since these are most vulnerable to heavy regulatory and fiscal environments; therefore, calls for specific impact assessments for these categories of SMEs, and urges the Commission and the Member States to take regulatory, administrative, fiscal and life-long learning measures specifically targeted for them;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Considers that the participation of SMEs in clusters must be promoted in order to boost innovation and increase the competitiveness of the European economy; calls therefore on the Commission to support the improvement of cluster management, notably through the exchange of best practices and training programmes, to design and disseminate tools to assess the performance of clusters, to promote inter- cluster cooperation, and to further simplify administrative procedures for the participation of clusters in EU programmes;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is strongly convinced that patents (including the Community patent) play an increasingly important role in innovation and economic performance, since they enable innovators to capture the returns from innovative investments and provide the necessary security for investment, equity and loans; is therefore of the opinion that an agreement on a Community Patent ensuring low-cost, efficient and high-quality legal protection for innovative products and services, as well as on a harmonised European patent litigation system, should be reached without delay;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses the need to promote innovative public procurement since it leads to added value for contracting authorities, citizens, and participating undertakings; in that respect, calls on the European Council to examine the perspective of establishing a quota, as regards public procurement in R&D and eco-innovation, in favour of R&D performing and innovative SMEs, clusters, and innovation and competitiveness poles;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Draws attention to the need for sufficient technical and skilled personnel; therefore, believes that more investment is needed in education and that the links between educational institutions and SMEs should be strengthened, so that entrepreneurship culture is promoted at all levels of national and regional education systems; encourages the further extension of individual mobility schemes such as „Erasmus for young entrepreneurs" and „Erasmus for apprentices"; urges the Member States, in collaboration with social partners and training providers, to set up lifelong learning programmes specifically tailored to SMEs’ needs that will be co-financed by the European Social Fund;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Welcomes the launching of a single European network integrating the services currently provided by Euro Info Centres (EIC) and Innovation Relay Centres (IRC) in order to support SMEs in all their innovation and competitiveness efforts through a wide range of services;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that SMEs’ limited ability to access finance is a major impediment to their creation and growth; encourages initiatives by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to boost the funding available for guarantees and other financial instruments for SMEs and to increase the volume of loans available on a mid-term basis to lending institutions in order to meet SMEs’ borrowing needs; also applauds in this respect the recent initiative to set up a Micro Credit Initiative;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Emphasises the important role of the EIB 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; encourages banking associations and industry (in particular SME) organisations to collaborate, with the aid of the Commission, in order to arrange training courses for SMEs on alternative financing tools and, more generally, in order to attract alternative financing;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Notes the enormous potential of the EU Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) in correcting market failures in SME financing, in promoting eco-innovation and in supporting entrepreneurial culture;
Amendment 116 #
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 alia making more use of e-procurement, adapting the size of contracts to SMEs, alleviating their administrative and financial burden in tendering, and enhancing their access to information on public tenders;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Considers that advanced e-Business applications, based on the implementation of interoperable electronic signatures and authentication certificates, is a crucial driver of SME competitiveness and should be encouraged by the Commission and the Member States;
Amendment 129 #
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 Commission, with the aid of the EIB, to put in place a cross-border investment framework that will eventually lead to a pan-European venture capital market; calls on the Member States swiftly to transpose and implement the Services Directive paying special attention to the interests of SMEs;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Believes that there is an imperative need to cut red tape by at least 25% 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; in this regard, calls on the Commission and the Member States to take initiatives in order to exchange and promote best administrative practices, set benchmarks (“naming and shaming”), and elaborate and promote guidelines and standards for SME-friendly administrative practices;
Amendment 150 #
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 impact assessments for SMEs, a so called ‘SME test’ for all new proposals for EU legislation affecting business, which would present, whenever relevant, concrete proposals for simplification/reduction of administrative burdens for SMEs/micro- enterprises;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Encourages Member States to set up national dedicated information contact points and support agencies, as well as physical or electronic one-stop-shops, for SMEs, offering access to various sources of information, structured according to the life cycle of a business, and facilitating start-up, recruitment, training, and business advising procedures;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Welcomes the Best Idea for Red Tape Reduction Award for the public authorities that have delivered innovative red tape reduction measures at a local, regional or national level;