Competitiveness Council hears calls for entrepreneurship action plan

Ministers and representatives from Member States called upon the Commission to draft an SME action plan during a public debate at the Competitiveness Council on 3 March. The meeting, which was chaired by Mr Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos, Greek Minister for Development, heard fro...

Ministers and representatives from Member States called upon the Commission to draft an SME action plan during a public debate at the Competitiveness Council on 3 March.

The meeting, which was chaired by Mr Apostolos Tsochatzopoulos, Greek Minister for Development, heard from ministers who unanimously welcomed the Commission's Green Paper 'Entrepreneurship in Europe' and the European Charter for Small Enterprises, and agreed that such initiatives would not only foster a spirit of entrepreneurship, but would help improve operating conditions for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

However, as requested, ministers also detailed areas in which the Community and Member States need to better contribute to ensuring the necessary coherence in entrepreneurship and SME policy.

Atzo Nicolaï, Dutch State Secretary for European Affairs, suggested that as the Green paper is divided into short and long term measures 'we could look at a different target [each year]. The first year for example, we could think about the administrative burden for companies or we could talk about costs of legal provisions.'

The Competitiveness Council has a vital role in coordinating a consistent approach to such issues, claimed Mr Nicolaï.

With regard to the implementation of the Charter on SMEs, Mr Nicolaï stated that while it was essential to discus putting in place new political measures, it was also necessary to continue assessing past practices.

Indeed, Mary Harney, Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, also stressed the need to better understand past experience, particularly with regard to business failure: 'While it is always good to celebrate success, in order to create the right environment we need to understand failure.' Ms Harney added that 'many venture capital firms [...] won't give money to people in their first venture because they take the view that there is a high chance that they will fail.'

In order to ensure survival rate among small firms, Ms Harney suggested that Member States could take a leading role in 'forging the necessary collaboration between business and education sector and other areas, linking capital with ideas, marrying innovation with entrepreneurship.'

However, according to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour in Austria, Martin Bartenstein, it is up to DG Enterprise and DG Education to provide the right kind of legislative framework that would encourage life long learning and training at national level.

Whether it is at national or European level, 'if we can build a supportive environment that values and fosters innovation, it will undoubtedly release entrepreneur talent and energy,' added Ms Harney.

This viewpoint was also shared by Patricia Hewitt, UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, who highlighted the crucial role that small businesses have to play in future job growth: 'increasingly, innovation comes out of small firms: they can move much faster, respond to new technologies and changes in consumer attitudes.' Ms Hewitt noted.

However, according to the UK minister, greater efforts are needed to ensure the growth of SME and entrepreneurship in all communities: 'disadvantaged communities and regions are the ones in which entrepreneurship is at its lowest and therefore we say that social justice and economic reform go hand in hand.'

Ms Hewitt also called for better regulatory provisions for SMEs, adding that 'small firms with no [...] health and safety officers of their own are in real danger of being disadvantaged by badly drafted and unnecessarily complex legislation, ' a point that was later supported by Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society.

In an effort to provide more concrete suggestions regarding the Commission's measures, Ms Hewitt referred to the recently drafted paper by the UK and France, which sets out a number of ideas for an entrepreneurship action plan.

The joint action plan was further elaborated upon by Renaud Dutreil, French State Secretary to the Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry, who suggested the setting up of a European day for entrepreneurship and improving consultation with SME representative bodies, as well as developing comparative studies and providing better access to public procurement contracts.

The suggestions made by France and UK were endorsed by several ministers present, including Carlos Tavares, Minister for Economic Action in Portugal. Mr Tavares emphasised the need for decisive and rapid action and called upon the Commission to submit a robust action plan by the end of 2003.

In response to calls for an action plan, Mr Liikanen concluded by saying that 'the Commission is ready to think about drafting an action plan once the public consultation has been completed.'