Eurochambres backs calls for action plan on entrepreneurship
The association of European chambers of commerce, Eurochambres, has called on the Commission to follow up its Green Paper on entrepreneurship with a 'comprehensive action plan with clear and unambiguous targets'. The statement, released by Eurochambres on 30 June to coincide with the end of the Commission's consultation period on the Green Paper, follows similar calls made by Member State representatives during the Competitiveness Council meeting in March. During the consultation period, Christoph Leitl, President of Eurochambres, said of the Green Paper: 'We welcome the initiative of Commissioner Liikanen to open the discussion [on] how to foster entrepreneurship in Europe. A lot has to be done - especially for SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises], which are the backbone of the European economy.' In its statement, the association proposes specific action in a number of areas. In order to re-balance risk verses reward in favour of entrepreneurs, Eurochambres would like to see a revision of national bankruptcy laws, and a reduction and simplification of corporate taxes for businesses with low revenues and profitability. Creating entrepreneurial training and education systems requires that an understanding of entrepreneurship be promoted from primary school onwards, and the participation of under represented groups in training schemes must be promoted and facilitated, the statement argues. Finally, Eurochambres calls for action to be taken to give entrepreneurs better access to international finance institutions and their funding programmes, and calls for the 'unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape that still surrounds the establishment [...] to be cut out.' The statement ends by urging the Commission and future 25 Member States to clarify the link between a possible future action plan and the Charter for SMEs, and warns Member States that they 'should not be distracted' from fulfilling promises already made in the context of the Lisbon competitiveness agenda.
Countries
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom