Liikanen calls for Europe to 'keep the pace' in SME reform
On 12 February EU Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner, Erkki Liikanen, presented a new Commission report on the implementation of the European Charter for Small Enterprises, endorsed at the Feira European Council of June 2000. The report concludes that while progress has been made in key areas such as cutting red tape and improving access to e-commerce, performance in these areas varies widely across the EU. 'Implementing the charter is central to achieving the Lisbon goal of making Europe into the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy by 2010,' said Commissioner Erkki Liikanen. 'We are on the right track, but we must build on our achievements and focus on key areas where we need to improve further,' he said, stressing that Europe must 'keep the pace' to see through the necessary reform. The report states that in eight Member States it is now possible to set up a sole proprietorship company, employing between one and two people, in up to two days for less than 100 euro. Mr Liikanen said 'it has never been so easy to start up a company,' emphasising the repeal of outdated legislation in Italy and efforts by Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden and the UK to consider alternatives to regulation, such as voluntary agreements. The document also highlights efforts in all Member States to help small businesses access e-commerce tools. Internet use by micro enterprises (companies with less than 10 employees) has almost doubled since 1999. Mr Liikanen drew attention to progress made by France, Ireland and Austria, where it is now possible to deal with tax and social security procedures online. Mr Liikanen also highlighted efforts to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit and awareness in Europe. He said that Germany, Ireland, Austria, Sweden and the UK have developed secondary school projects on how to start and run a business. In addition, Portugal, France, Spain and Ireland have launched awareness-raising campaigns in universities. The report also stresses the need for more to be done to ensure better representation of the interests of small enterprises in national and EU policy-making. Mr Liikanen also mentioned the issue, saying 'we must listen to small enterprises.' He pointed out that Germany has appointed a high level Federal representative for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), the UK has opened an office in Brussels to represent the national interests of SMEs at EU level, and in December 2001 the European Commission announced the appointment of an 'SME envoy' to represent the interests of small businesses within the Commission.