ESBA calls for creation of forum to accelerate Lisbon reforms
The President of the European Small Business Alliance (ESBA) has called for the creation of a European Entrepreneurs' Forum to accelerate reforms set out at the March 2000 Lisbon Summit to boost entrepreneurship in Europe. In a letter addressed to the Presidents of all major business organisations active at European level, ESBA President Brian Prime calls for the establishment of the forum to boost regulatory reforms designed to make the EU the world's most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010. Mr Prime's letter states that although 'successive European Councils, the Commission and the Parliament have constantly stated that enterprises, notably SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), are the backbone of the European economy' and 'in spite of a detailed and ambitious European charter for small enterprises, entrepreneurs are still waiting for the promised improvements.' He adds that 'the blight created by excessive regulation continues; it's time we come together to ensure the Lisbon proposals are addressed.' The letter emphasises that 'some of the key issues facing European enterprises today are not necessarily linked to the size of companies, although most existing burdens affect disproportionately the small business. This is why the forum would be opened to all businesses active at European level.' The ESBA hopes to organise a meeting before the Barcelona Summit in March in order to move the plan forward. Forum members would then meet on a regular basis in Brussels to develop common grounds on key enterprise issues. The ESBA was established in 1998 and represents entrepreneurs in the manufacturing, commerce and service sectors as well as small business entrepreneurs from the new economy.