BETA


2015/2282(INI) Implementation of the thematic objective "enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs" (Article 9(3)) of the Common Provisions Regulation

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead REGI D'AMATO Rosa (icon: EFDD EFDD) CICU Salvatore (icon: PPE PPE), COZZOLINO Andrea (icon: S&D S&D), TOMAŠIĆ Ruža (icon: ECR ECR), AUŠTREVIČIUS Petras (icon: ALDE ALDE), ŠKRLEC Davor (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE)
Committee Opinion INTA
Committee Opinion EMPL
Committee Opinion ITRE
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2016/12/21
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2016/09/13
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2016/09/13
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 615 votes to 18 with 59 abstentions, a resolution on the implementation of the thematic objective ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ – Article 9(3) of the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding the five structural and investment funds, on the thematic objective of enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs.

Members recalled that Cohesion Policy in the 2014-2020 programming period would further support SMEs by doubling the 2007-2013 support to EUR 140 billion. The thematic objective entitled ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ (TO 3) is one of the thematic objectives with the highest percentage of overall funding, amounting to 13.9 % of total funds.

The 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU , which account for around 99 % of all businesses, make a fundamental contribution to economic growth, social cohesion, innovation and high-quality job creation, providing over 100 million jobs which generate 2 out of every 3 private sector jobs, and maintaining double the employment growth rate of larger enterprises.

Enhancing support from the ESI Funds to SMEs : given that SMEs are the driving forces behind the European economy and are key to the success of Cohesion Policy, but that they often face multiple challenges owing to their size, parliament recommended further enhancing the support from ESI Funds directed towards SMEs. It called on the Commission, the Member States as the regional authorities to:

take into account the added value of SME projects f or the development and innovation of traditional sectors, as this will not only stimulate job creation, but also maintain local and regional business specificities, whilst respecting the principles of sustainability;

take into consideration the principles of the circular economy package in the implementation of TO 3, in order to generate new high-quality jobs for SMEs, with special attention being paid to promoting green jobs; consider the use of the financial instrument opportunities, while emphasising the need to ensure the transparency, accountability and scrutiny of such financial instruments and of the SME Initiative Programme aimed at financially supporting SMEs.

Simplified and less regulated access to credit : regretting that investors and banks are often reluctant to finance businesses in their start-up and early expansion phases and that many SMEs, especially small start-ups, have found it hard to gain access to external funding, Members asked for particular attention to be paid to improve access to finance for microenterprises and start-ups that want to scale-up and interest rates for SMEs and large enterprises should be set at the same rate.

Remedying the low absorption rate : Parliament noted that the complex management of structural funds and administrative burdens, as well as limited access to financing for SMEs and complexity of implementation of support schemes, led to an insufficient absorption of such funds by SMEs. It called on the Commission to rapidly prepare an assessment of this issue, in cooperation with the Member States, and submit it to Parliament. It stressed that poor administrative capacity may hinder the successful and timely implementation of TO3.

Public procurement : Members urged that obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible , eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens. While welcoming Directive 2014/24/EU and the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), Members:

stressed the need to continue with the strict application of anti-error and anti-fraud measures without adding to the administrative burden; called on contracting authorities wishing to group contracts together to take care not to exclude SMEs from the process by the sheer scale of the final lot , since larger contracts could involve more cumbersome criteria.

Enhancing transparency : noting with concern that many SME organisations in the Member States are not really involved and are often only informed without being adequately consulted, Members stressed the need for actual implementation and respect of the partnership principle . They reiterated their calls to enhance transparency and the participation of all relevant regional and local authorities, civil society stakeholders, entrepreneurs and other interested parties, especially in the process of defining the requirements in calls for project proposals in order to better target final beneficiaries’ needs.

Further recommendations : Parliament called on the Commission and the Member States to:

ensure enhanced coordination and consistency among all EU investment policies targeted at SMEs in order to enhance the synergy between ESI funding and other policies and financial instruments targeted at SMEs will maximise the impact of investments; monitor and encourage the acceleration of implementation of cohesion policy , in particular the setting up of projects with sustainable growth and quality job creation potential; provide specific recommendations for action and guidance aimed at further simplifying, monitoring and assessing the use of such financial instruments (especially in outermost regions); put in place structured dialogue between the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in order to improve and facilitate the access of SMEs to diversified funding sources; reduce the administrative burden and simplify procedures in the management of ESI Funds by SMEs; establish conditions for State aid at national and regional level which will not discriminate against SMEs; urgently find a lasting solution to the backlog of payments related to regional policy and to properly apply the Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU); draw up specific programmes which embody all relevant sustainable, smart and inclusive growth elements for SMEs; establish a participatory platform within existing budgets for the dissemination of SME project results; stimulate the creation of an ecosystem composed of universities, research centres, social and economic stakeholders and public institutions to foster entrepreneurial skills, while encouraging managing authorities to engage the available funds intended for technical assistance, including the innovative uses of ICT by SMEs; facilitate the setting up of enterprises by the promotion of entrepreneurial skills and the introduction of entrepreneurship in school curricula; make greater use of ESI Funds to help SMEs to seize the opportunities offered, and address the challenges posed, by international trade , while supporting them in addressing adjustment costs and the negative impacts of increased international competition.

Lastly, Members stressed Parliament’s role in the supervision of results-oriented implementation of cohesion policy.

Documents
2016/09/13
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2016/04/29
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Regional Development adopted the own-initiative report by Rosa D'AMATO (EFD, IT) on the implementation of the thematic objective ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ – Article 9(3) of the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 on the thematic objective of enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs.

Members recalled that the shared objective of investments under the ESI funds is to provide support for the delivery of the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Each ESI Fund supports 11 thematic objectives and thematic objective 3 (TO3) is about ‘ enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises’. TO3 is one of the thematic objectives with the highest percentage of overall funding (13.9 %).

The 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU , which account for around 99 % of all businesses, make a fundamental contribution to economic growth, social cohesion, innovation and high-quality job creation, providing over 100 million jobs which generate 2 out of every 3 private sector jobs, and maintaining double the employment growth rate of larger enterprises.

Enhancing support from the ESI Funds to SMEs : given that SMEs are the driving forces behind the European economy and are key to the success of Cohesion Policy, but that they often face multiple challenges owing to their size, Members recommended further enhancing the support from ESI Funds directed towards SMEs. They called on the Commission, the Member States as the regional authorities to:

take into account the added value of SME projects for the development and innovation of traditional sectors, as this will not only stimulate job creation, but also maintain local and regional business specificities, whilst respecting the principles of sustainability; take into consideration the principles of the circular economy package in the implementation of TO 3, in order to foster more sustainable economic growth and generate new high-quality jobs for SMEs, with special attention being paid to promoting green jobs; consider the use of the financial instrument opportunities , while emphasising the need to ensure the transparency, accountability and scrutiny of such financial instruments and of the SME Initiative Programme aimed at financially supporting SMEs.

Simplified and less regulated access to credit : regretting that investors and banks are often reluctant to finance businesses in their start-up and early expansion phases and that many SMEs, especially small start-ups, have found it hard to gain access to external funding, Members asked for particular attention to be paid to improve access to finance for microenterprises and start-ups that want to scale-up.

Remedying the low absorption rate : the report noted that the complex management of structural funds and administrative burdens, as well as limited access to financing for SMEs and complexity of implementation of support schemes, led to an insufficient absorption of such funds by SMEs. It called on the Commission to rapidly prepare an assessment of this issue, in cooperation with the Member States, and submit it to Parliament. It stressed that poor administrative capacity may hinder the successful and timely implementation of TO3.

Public procurement : recalling the importance for SMEs to have a transparent, consistent and innovative public procurement set-up, Members urged that obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible , eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens. While welcoming Directive 2014/24/EU and the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), Members stresses the need to continue with the strict application of anti-error and anti-fraud measures without adding to the administrative burden, and to simplify administrative procedures in order to prevent errors; calls on contracting authorities wishing to group contracts together to take care not to exclude SMEs from the process by the sheer scale of the final lot , since larger contracts could involve more cumbersome criteria.

Enhancing transparency : noting with concern that many SME organisations in the Member States are not really involved and are often only informed without being adequately consulted, Members stressed the need for actual implementation and respect of the partnership principle also at the drafting, preparation and implementation stages of partnership agreements and operational programmes.

Further recommendations : Members called on the Commission and the Member States to:

ensure enhanced coordination and consistency among all EU investment policies targeted at SMEs in order to enhance the synergy between ESI funding and other policies and financial instruments targeted at SMEs will maximise the impact of investments; monitor and encourage the acceleration of implementation of cohesion policy , in particular the setting up of projects with sustainable growth and quality job creation potential; provide specific recommendations for action and guidance aimed at further simplifying, monitoring and assessing the use of such financial instruments (especially in outermost regions); put in place structured dialogue between the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in order to improve and facilitate the access of SMEs to diversified funding sources; reduce the administrative burden and simplify procedures in the management of ESI Funds by SMEs; establish conditions for State aid at national and regional level which will not discriminate against SMEs; urgently find a lasting solution to the backlog of payments related to regional policy and to properly apply the Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU); draw up specific programmes which embody all relevant sustainable, smart and inclusive growth elements for SMEs; establish a participatory platform within existing budgets for the dissemination of SME project results; stimulate the creation of an ecosystem composed of universities, research centres, social and economic stakeholders and public institutions to foster entrepreneurial skills, while encouraging managing authorities to engage the available funds intended for technical assistance, including the innovative uses of ICT by SMEs; make greater use of ESI Funds to help SMEs to seize the opportunities offered, and address the challenges posed, by international trade , while supporting them in addressing adjustment costs and the negative impacts of increased international competition.

Lastly, the report stressed Parliament’s role in the supervision of results-oriented implementation of cohesion policy.

Documents
2016/04/19
   EP - Vote in committee
2016/03/03
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2016/01/20
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2015/10/29
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2015/07/14
   EP - D'AMATO Rosa (EFDD) appointed as rapporteur in REGI

Documents

Activities

Votes

A8-0162/2016 - Rosa D'Amato - Résolution #

2016/09/13 Outcome: +: 618, 0: 59, -: 15
DE IT ES FR PL GB RO PT AT NL CZ BE BG SE DK FI SK LT EL HU HR SI LV IE MT EE CY LU
Total
90
69
51
71
48
56
32
19
18
25
21
20
16
19
13
11
13
10
19
15
8
8
8
10
6
5
5
5
icon: PPE PPE
200

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Finland PPE

2

Croatia PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

1

Luxembourg PPE

3
icon: S&D S&D
175

Netherlands S&D

3

Croatia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Latvia S&D

1

Ireland S&D

For (1)

1

Malta S&D

3

Estonia S&D

For (1)

1

Cyprus S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
69

Italy ECR

2

Romania ECR

For (1)

1

Netherlands ECR

2

Czechia ECR

2

Bulgaria ECR

2
2

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

3

Lithuania ECR

1

Greece ECR

For (1)

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Latvia ECR

Abstain (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
65

United Kingdom ALDE

1

Romania ALDE

3

Austria ALDE

For (1)

1
3

Croatia ALDE

2

Slovenia ALDE

For (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
48

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

5

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Hungary Verts/ALE

1

Croatia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Slovenia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
51

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

3

Denmark GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1
4

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: EFDD EFDD
35

Germany EFDD

Against (1)

1

France EFDD

1

Poland EFDD

1

Czechia EFDD

Against (1)

1

Sweden EFDD

2
icon: ENF ENF
36

Germany ENF

Against (1)

1

Poland ENF

Abstain (1)

1

Romania ENF

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands ENF

3

Belgium ENF

Abstain (1)

1
icon: NI NI
12

Germany NI

For (1)

Against (1)

2

France NI

3

Poland NI

Abstain (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

For (1)

1

Hungary NI

For (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
171 2015/2282(INI)
2016/03/03 REGI 171 amendments...
source: 578.539

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
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summary
procedure/Modified legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
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Rules of Procedure EP 159
committees/0
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committee
REGI
rapporteur
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shadows
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docs/2/body
EC
events/2/docs/0/url
Old
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New
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events/4/docs/0/url
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New
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activities
  • date: 2015-10-29T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: CICU Salvatore group: S&D name: COZZOLINO Andrea group: ECR name: TOMAŠIĆ Ruža group: ALDE name: AUŠTREVIČIUS Petras group: Verts/ALE name: ŠKRLEC Davor responsible: True committee: REGI date: 2015-07-14T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: EFD name: D'AMATO Rosa
  • date: 2016-04-19T00:00:00 body: EP type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: CICU Salvatore group: S&D name: COZZOLINO Andrea group: ECR name: TOMAŠIĆ Ruža group: ALDE name: AUŠTREVIČIUS Petras group: Verts/ALE name: ŠKRLEC Davor responsible: True committee: REGI date: 2015-07-14T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: EFD name: D'AMATO Rosa
  • date: 2016-04-29T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2016-0162&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A8-0162/2016 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2016-09-13T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0335 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0335/2016 body: EP type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
commission
  • body: EC dg: Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs commissioner: KATAINEN Jyrki
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
date
2015-07-14T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: D'AMATO Rosa group: Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy abbr: EFDD
shadows
committees/0
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Employment and Social Affairs
committee
EMPL
committees/1
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body
EP
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False
committee_full
International Trade
committee
INTA
opinion
False
committees/1
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
International Trade
committee
INTA
committees/2
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
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False
committee_full
Employment and Social Affairs
committee
EMPL
opinion
False
committees/2
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
committees/3
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
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False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
opinion
False
committees/3
body
EP
shadows
responsible
True
committee
REGI
date
2015-07-14T00:00:00
committee_full
Regional Development
rapporteur
group: EFD name: D'AMATO Rosa
docs
  • date: 2016-01-20T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE575.286 title: PE575.286 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2016-03-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE578.539 title: PE578.539 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2016-12-21T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=27158&j=0&l=en title: SP(2016)876 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2015-10-29T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2016-04-19T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2016-04-29T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2016-0162&language=EN title: A8-0162/2016 summary: The Committee on Regional Development adopted the own-initiative report by Rosa D'AMATO (EFD, IT) on the implementation of the thematic objective ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ – Article 9(3) of the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 on the thematic objective of enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. Members recalled that the shared objective of investments under the ESI funds is to provide support for the delivery of the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Each ESI Fund supports 11 thematic objectives and thematic objective 3 (TO3) is about ‘ enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises’. TO3 is one of the thematic objectives with the highest percentage of overall funding (13.9 %). The 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU , which account for around 99 % of all businesses, make a fundamental contribution to economic growth, social cohesion, innovation and high-quality job creation, providing over 100 million jobs which generate 2 out of every 3 private sector jobs, and maintaining double the employment growth rate of larger enterprises. Enhancing support from the ESI Funds to SMEs : given that SMEs are the driving forces behind the European economy and are key to the success of Cohesion Policy, but that they often face multiple challenges owing to their size, Members recommended further enhancing the support from ESI Funds directed towards SMEs. They called on the Commission, the Member States as the regional authorities to: take into account the added value of SME projects for the development and innovation of traditional sectors, as this will not only stimulate job creation, but also maintain local and regional business specificities, whilst respecting the principles of sustainability; take into consideration the principles of the circular economy package in the implementation of TO 3, in order to foster more sustainable economic growth and generate new high-quality jobs for SMEs, with special attention being paid to promoting green jobs; consider the use of the financial instrument opportunities , while emphasising the need to ensure the transparency, accountability and scrutiny of such financial instruments and of the SME Initiative Programme aimed at financially supporting SMEs. Simplified and less regulated access to credit : regretting that investors and banks are often reluctant to finance businesses in their start-up and early expansion phases and that many SMEs, especially small start-ups, have found it hard to gain access to external funding, Members asked for particular attention to be paid to improve access to finance for microenterprises and start-ups that want to scale-up. Remedying the low absorption rate : the report noted that the complex management of structural funds and administrative burdens, as well as limited access to financing for SMEs and complexity of implementation of support schemes, led to an insufficient absorption of such funds by SMEs. It called on the Commission to rapidly prepare an assessment of this issue, in cooperation with the Member States, and submit it to Parliament. It stressed that poor administrative capacity may hinder the successful and timely implementation of TO3. Public procurement : recalling the importance for SMEs to have a transparent, consistent and innovative public procurement set-up, Members urged that obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible , eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens. While welcoming Directive 2014/24/EU and the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), Members stresses the need to continue with the strict application of anti-error and anti-fraud measures without adding to the administrative burden, and to simplify administrative procedures in order to prevent errors; calls on contracting authorities wishing to group contracts together to take care not to exclude SMEs from the process by the sheer scale of the final lot , since larger contracts could involve more cumbersome criteria. Enhancing transparency : noting with concern that many SME organisations in the Member States are not really involved and are often only informed without being adequately consulted, Members stressed the need for actual implementation and respect of the partnership principle also at the drafting, preparation and implementation stages of partnership agreements and operational programmes. Further recommendations : Members called on the Commission and the Member States to: ensure enhanced coordination and consistency among all EU investment policies targeted at SMEs in order to enhance the synergy between ESI funding and other policies and financial instruments targeted at SMEs will maximise the impact of investments; monitor and encourage the acceleration of implementation of cohesion policy , in particular the setting up of projects with sustainable growth and quality job creation potential; provide specific recommendations for action and guidance aimed at further simplifying, monitoring and assessing the use of such financial instruments (especially in outermost regions); put in place structured dialogue between the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in order to improve and facilitate the access of SMEs to diversified funding sources; reduce the administrative burden and simplify procedures in the management of ESI Funds by SMEs; establish conditions for State aid at national and regional level which will not discriminate against SMEs; urgently find a lasting solution to the backlog of payments related to regional policy and to properly apply the Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU); draw up specific programmes which embody all relevant sustainable, smart and inclusive growth elements for SMEs; establish a participatory platform within existing budgets for the dissemination of SME project results; stimulate the creation of an ecosystem composed of universities, research centres, social and economic stakeholders and public institutions to foster entrepreneurial skills, while encouraging managing authorities to engage the available funds intended for technical assistance, including the innovative uses of ICT by SMEs; make greater use of ESI Funds to help SMEs to seize the opportunities offered, and address the challenges posed, by international trade , while supporting them in addressing adjustment costs and the negative impacts of increased international competition. Lastly, the report stressed Parliament’s role in the supervision of results-oriented implementation of cohesion policy.
  • date: 2016-09-13T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=27158&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2016-09-13T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0335 title: T8-0335/2016 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 615 votes to 18 with 59 abstentions, a resolution on the implementation of the thematic objective ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ – Article 9(3) of the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding the five structural and investment funds, on the thematic objective of enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. Members recalled that Cohesion Policy in the 2014-2020 programming period would further support SMEs by doubling the 2007-2013 support to EUR 140 billion. The thematic objective entitled ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ (TO 3) is one of the thematic objectives with the highest percentage of overall funding, amounting to 13.9 % of total funds. The 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU , which account for around 99 % of all businesses, make a fundamental contribution to economic growth, social cohesion, innovation and high-quality job creation, providing over 100 million jobs which generate 2 out of every 3 private sector jobs, and maintaining double the employment growth rate of larger enterprises. Enhancing support from the ESI Funds to SMEs : given that SMEs are the driving forces behind the European economy and are key to the success of Cohesion Policy, but that they often face multiple challenges owing to their size, parliament recommended further enhancing the support from ESI Funds directed towards SMEs. It called on the Commission, the Member States as the regional authorities to: take into account the added value of SME projects f or the development and innovation of traditional sectors, as this will not only stimulate job creation, but also maintain local and regional business specificities, whilst respecting the principles of sustainability; take into consideration the principles of the circular economy package in the implementation of TO 3, in order to generate new high-quality jobs for SMEs, with special attention being paid to promoting green jobs; consider the use of the financial instrument opportunities, while emphasising the need to ensure the transparency, accountability and scrutiny of such financial instruments and of the SME Initiative Programme aimed at financially supporting SMEs. Simplified and less regulated access to credit : regretting that investors and banks are often reluctant to finance businesses in their start-up and early expansion phases and that many SMEs, especially small start-ups, have found it hard to gain access to external funding, Members asked for particular attention to be paid to improve access to finance for microenterprises and start-ups that want to scale-up and interest rates for SMEs and large enterprises should be set at the same rate. Remedying the low absorption rate : Parliament noted that the complex management of structural funds and administrative burdens, as well as limited access to financing for SMEs and complexity of implementation of support schemes, led to an insufficient absorption of such funds by SMEs. It called on the Commission to rapidly prepare an assessment of this issue, in cooperation with the Member States, and submit it to Parliament. It stressed that poor administrative capacity may hinder the successful and timely implementation of TO3. Public procurement : Members urged that obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible , eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens. While welcoming Directive 2014/24/EU and the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), Members: stressed the need to continue with the strict application of anti-error and anti-fraud measures without adding to the administrative burden; called on contracting authorities wishing to group contracts together to take care not to exclude SMEs from the process by the sheer scale of the final lot , since larger contracts could involve more cumbersome criteria. Enhancing transparency : noting with concern that many SME organisations in the Member States are not really involved and are often only informed without being adequately consulted, Members stressed the need for actual implementation and respect of the partnership principle . They reiterated their calls to enhance transparency and the participation of all relevant regional and local authorities, civil society stakeholders, entrepreneurs and other interested parties, especially in the process of defining the requirements in calls for project proposals in order to better target final beneficiaries’ needs. Further recommendations : Parliament called on the Commission and the Member States to: ensure enhanced coordination and consistency among all EU investment policies targeted at SMEs in order to enhance the synergy between ESI funding and other policies and financial instruments targeted at SMEs will maximise the impact of investments; monitor and encourage the acceleration of implementation of cohesion policy , in particular the setting up of projects with sustainable growth and quality job creation potential; provide specific recommendations for action and guidance aimed at further simplifying, monitoring and assessing the use of such financial instruments (especially in outermost regions); put in place structured dialogue between the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in order to improve and facilitate the access of SMEs to diversified funding sources; reduce the administrative burden and simplify procedures in the management of ESI Funds by SMEs; establish conditions for State aid at national and regional level which will not discriminate against SMEs; urgently find a lasting solution to the backlog of payments related to regional policy and to properly apply the Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU); draw up specific programmes which embody all relevant sustainable, smart and inclusive growth elements for SMEs; establish a participatory platform within existing budgets for the dissemination of SME project results; stimulate the creation of an ecosystem composed of universities, research centres, social and economic stakeholders and public institutions to foster entrepreneurial skills, while encouraging managing authorities to engage the available funds intended for technical assistance, including the innovative uses of ICT by SMEs; facilitate the setting up of enterprises by the promotion of entrepreneurial skills and the introduction of entrepreneurship in school curricula; make greater use of ESI Funds to help SMEs to seize the opportunities offered, and address the challenges posed, by international trade , while supporting them in addressing adjustment costs and the negative impacts of increased international competition. Lastly, Members stressed Parliament’s role in the supervision of results-oriented implementation of cohesion policy.
  • date: 2016-09-13T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ title: Enterprise and Industry commissioner: KATAINEN Jyrki
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  • 3.40.14 Industrial competitiveness
  • 3.45.02 Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), craft industries
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  • The Committee on Regional Development adopted the own-initiative report by Rosa D'AMATO (EFD, IT) on the implementation of the thematic objective ‘enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs’ – Article 9(3) of the Common Provisions Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 on the thematic objective of enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs.

    Members recalled that the shared objective of investments under the ESI funds is to provide support for the delivery of the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Each ESI Fund supports 11 thematic objectives and thematic objective 3 (TO3) is about ‘enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises’. TO3 is one of the thematic objectives with the highest percentage of overall funding (13.9 %).

    The 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU, which account for around 99 % of all businesses, make a fundamental contribution to economic growth, social cohesion, innovation and high-quality job creation, providing over 100 million jobs which generate 2 out of every 3 private sector jobs, and maintaining double the employment growth rate of larger enterprises.

    Enhancing support from the ESI Funds to SMEs: given that SMEs are the driving forces behind the European economy and are key to the success of Cohesion Policy, but that they often face multiple challenges owing to their size, Members recommended further enhancing the support from ESI Funds directed towards SMEs. They called on the Commission, the Member States as the regional authorities to:

    • take into account the added value of SME projects for the development and innovation of traditional sectors, as this will not only stimulate job creation, but also maintain local and regional business specificities, whilst respecting the principles of sustainability;
    • take into consideration the principles of the circular economy package in the implementation of TO 3, in order to foster more sustainable economic growth and generate new high-quality jobs for SMEs, with special attention being paid to promoting green jobs;
    • consider the use of the financial instrument opportunities, while emphasising the need to ensure the transparency, accountability and scrutiny of such financial instruments and of the SME Initiative Programme aimed at financially supporting SMEs.

    Simplified and less regulated access to credit: regretting that investors and banks are often reluctant to finance businesses in their start-up and early expansion phases and that many SMEs, especially small start-ups, have found it hard to gain access to external funding, Members asked for particular attention to be paid to improve access to finance for microenterprises and start-ups that want to scale-up.

    Remedying the low absorption rate: the report noted that the complex management of structural funds and administrative burdens, as well as limited access to financing for SMEs and complexity of implementation of support schemes, led to an insufficient absorption of such funds by SMEs. It called on the Commission to rapidly prepare an assessment of this issue, in cooperation with the Member States, and submit it to Parliament. It stressed that poor administrative capacity may hinder the successful and timely implementation of TO3.

    Public procurement: recalling the importance for SMEs to have a transparent, consistent and innovative public procurement set-up, Members urged that obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible, eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens. While welcoming Directive 2014/24/EU and the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), Members stresses the need to continue with the strict application of anti-error and anti-fraud measures without adding to the administrative burden, and to simplify administrative procedures in order to prevent errors; calls on contracting authorities wishing to group contracts together to take care not to exclude SMEs from the process by the sheer scale of the final lot, since larger contracts could involve more cumbersome criteria.

    Enhancing transparency: noting with concern that many SME organisations in the Member States are not really involved and are often only informed without being adequately consulted, Members stressed the need for actual implementation and respect of the partnership principle also at the drafting, preparation and implementation stages of partnership agreements and operational programmes.

    Further recommendations: Members called on the Commission and the Member States to:

    • ensure enhanced coordination and consistency among all EU investment policies targeted at SMEs in order to enhance the synergy between ESI funding and other policies and financial instruments targeted at SMEs will maximise the impact of investments;
    • monitor and encourage the acceleration of implementation of cohesion policy, in particular the setting up of projects with sustainable growth and quality job creation potential;
    • provide specific recommendations for action and guidance aimed at further simplifying, monitoring and assessing the use of such financial instruments (especially in outermost regions);
    • put in place structured dialogue between the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in order to improve and facilitate the access of SMEs to diversified funding sources;
    • reduce the administrative burden and simplify procedures in the management of ESI Funds by SMEs;
    • establish conditions for State aid at national and regional level which will not discriminate against SMEs;
    • urgently find a lasting solution to the backlog of payments related to regional policy and to properly apply the Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU);
    • draw up specific programmes which embody all relevant sustainable, smart and inclusive growth elements for SMEs;
    • establish a participatory platform within existing budgets for the dissemination of SME project results;
    • stimulate the creation of an ecosystem composed of universities, research centres, social and economic stakeholders and public institutions to foster entrepreneurial skills, while encouraging managing authorities to engage the available funds intended for technical assistance, including the innovative uses of ICT by SMEs;
    • make greater use of ESI Funds to help SMEs to seize the opportunities offered, and address the challenges posed, by international trade, while supporting them in addressing adjustment costs and the negative impacts of increased international competition.

    Lastly, the report stressed Parliament’s role in the supervision of results-oriented implementation of cohesion policy.

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  • date: 2015-10-29T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: CICU Salvatore group: S&D name: COZZOLINO Andrea group: ECR name: TOMAŠIĆ Ruža group: ALDE name: AUŠTREVIČIUS Petras group: Verts/ALE name: ŠKRLEC Davor responsible: True committee: REGI date: 2015-07-14T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: EFD name: D'AMATO Rosa
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  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: CICU Salvatore group: S&D name: COZZOLINO Andrea group: ECR name: TOMAŠIĆ Ruža group: ALDE name: AUŠTREVIČIUS Petras group: Verts/ALE name: ŠKRLEC Davor responsible: True committee: REGI date: 2015-07-14T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: EFD name: D'AMATO Rosa
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  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ title: Enterprise and Industry commissioner: KATAINEN Jyrki
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Implementation of the thematic objective "enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs" (Article 9(3)) of the Common Provisions Regulation
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See also Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013
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