Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
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Lead | ECON | KESTELIJN-SIERENS Marie-Paule (Mimi) (ELDR) |
Legal Basis RoP 132
Activites
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1999/07/30
Final act published in Official Journal
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1999/04/13
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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T4-0238/1999
summary
Without debate, the European Parliament adopted the report by Mimi Kestelijn-Sierens (ELDR,BE) on the Commission Communication "Fostering Entrepreneurship in Europe: Priorities for the Future". The report calls on Member States to: - at the earliest opportunity, adopt structural measures in the labour market; - take measures to adapt the social security systems and to reduce the non-wage costs of workers, because these involve a major burden on undertakings; - as a matter of urgency, observe and implement Community legislation on mutual recognition of diplomas in practice; - encourage the media to pay more attention to the importance of entrepreneurship and the development of a stock market culture; - take the necessary fiscal and legal steps to improve the transfer of undertakings; - restrict the costs of patent applications and help potential entrepreneurs determine a strategy for protecting intellectual and industrial property. The Parliament proposes launching a strategy aimed at promoting learning as a "leisure activity" in order to promote lifelong learning and the transmission of knowledge and values in the information society. It urges a revision of directive 86/613/EEC on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity, including agriculture, in a self-employed capacity, and on the protection of self-employed women during pregnancy and motherhood, so as to improve the status of spouses of self-employed persons. The report also encourages the Commission to consult the business world even more systematically than at present before coming up with new regulations, in order to ensure that legisaltion is simple, transparent and practical. The Council is urged to reach an agreement without delay on a simple and transparent definitive common VAT system, while the Parliament also calls for alternative legislative procedures to be drawn up which put to the test legal provisions that are either new or have been duly amended for a given period of time in a limited domain. The report asks that, in line with the policy of deregulation, the Commission and Member State governments charge a Commissioner, or a government member or state secretary, with simplifying rules and administrative obligations. It calls on the Commission to simplify technical standards and proposes the development of instruments to promote and secure European exports in order to promote the competitiveness of internal market undertakings in third countries and to avoid distortions of competition. The Parliament calls for the elimination of bureaucratic hurdles where a business is handed over to family members. Finally, applauding the Commission's cluster surveys, it recommends that their findings should also be applied to export activities outside the internal market.�
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T4-0238/1999
summary
- 1999/03/30 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
- #2133
- 1998/11/16 Council Meeting
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1998/10/09
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
- #2117
- 1998/09/24 Council Meeting
- #2094
- 1998/05/18 Council Meeting
- #2091
- 1998/05/07 Council Meeting
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1998/04/07
Non-legislative basic document published
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COM(1998)0222
summary
OBJECTIVE: to define a framework at national and Community level to foster entrepreneurship in Europe. CONTENT: this communication proposes a number of priority issues for action at both national and European level in order to foster entrepreneurship in Europe. The first part of the document recalls Europe's position as an economic power and underlines the direct link between the dynamism of the Community's economy and the success of entrepreneurs and the competitiveness of its businesses, in particular SMEs. However, European businesses are confronted with too many legislative obstacles and an overcomplicated administrative system and this is slowing down their development. For this reason, in order to allow this sector to make swifter progress, the Commission proposes a 2-part strategy: 1) promote enterprise culture by encouraging risk-taking: this means combating the social stigma attached to bankruptcy through a variety of initiatives, notably related to training (LEONARDO programme), the creation of a network of business schools providing specialised training in enterprise management etc. At Member State level, the Commission proposes encouraging collaboration between research institutes and targeting action at specific groups (women, long-term unemployed) in order to make them aware of the potential of entrepreneurship. It is also planned to make the institutional framework more entrepreneurial and aware of the special needs of business start-ups. Member States are also called upon to promote self-employment as a career option and improve access to education and training for entrepreneurs. It is further proposed to restore the balance in domestic national legislation between the rights and obligations of creditors and debtors, for example by introducing discharge clauses that offer entrepreneurs a clean slate after a certain number of years. 2) improve the business environment by: - simplifying the administrative environment: a number of initiatives have been taken by the Commission in this field, for example the BEST initiative (business environment simplification task force), which will shortly submit proposals with a view to eliminating administrative barriers to entrepreneurship. At a national level, Member States need to step up efforts with a view to alleviating the fiscal, administrative, social, environmental and statistical burdens on start-ups; - combating late payments, which are the cause of 1 in 4 insolvencies in Europe. A proposal for a directive should shortly be adopted in this field; - facilitating business transfers: 30% of businesses to be transferred will disappear because of poor preparation, for which reason the Commission will consider support for pilot projects aimed at preparing for the transfer of businesses in the Member States. Member States are called upon to implement measures with a view to providing technical assistance at an early stage to businesses to be transferred; - improving access to finance: the growth and employment initiative entered into force in 1998 with a total budget of EUR 420 million. Other initiatives have also been planned, such as the action plan to develop pan-European venture capital markets and the setting up of an "innovation financing help desk". For their part, Member States should introduce loan guarantee schemes and interest rate subsidies to encourage investment; - making taxation systems more business-friendly: apart from the introduction of a common system of VAT based on the principle of origin, the Commission considers that the Member States should stimulate business start-ups through tax relief and review the relative taxation of debt and equity financing. Finally, apart from these actions, the communication proposes redirecting and significantly reducing state aids and developing innovation within the framework of RDT (through easier access for companies to patents and better protection of their intellectual and industrial property). It is also planned to support action to improve access for SMEs to Community programmes and to stimulate entrepreneurship in the social economy.�
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COM(1998)0222
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1998)0222
- Debate in Council: 2091
- Debate in Council: 2094
- Debate in Council: 2117
- Debate in Council: 2133
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0172/1999
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0238/1999
History
(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)
procedure/subject/2 |
3.45.06 Entrepreneurship, liberal professions
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procedure/subject/1 |
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3.45.02 Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs, craft industriesNew
3.45.02 Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), craft industries |
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