Our positions on specific policy issues

The E7, composed of the associations of SMEs and mid-caps of Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, launched a manifesto for a Realistic Industry policy that presents ten key action points that can be implemented across European industrial, environmental, energy, skills, innovation and trade policies to truly support the European Real Economy and act as a springboard for its growth.

European Entrepreneurs has co-signed with major European and African business organizations the Joint Business Declaration which is addressed to the Representatives of the EU/AU and member states.

The Joint Declaration highlights the need to develop further financing instruments geared to the needs of companies, to empower the private sector including SMEs and advance the cooperation between the AU and the EU. The  European and African business organisations agreed to strengthen their bilateral relations and develop them in the most efficient and constructive manner.

Joint Business Declaration

Annex I – Areas of Specific Concern

Annex II – Proposals of EABF Working Groups

Our latest position paper remarks the need for a dedicated grant instrument for investments by SMEs in developing countries, particularly to create jobs and trigger growth in African countries.

The present crisis has fundamentally affected business cooperation between Europe and Africa. We are demanding a reinvigorated approach to supporting SMEs and to urgently establishing an EU-Africa SME Support Instrument (EASSI 2020).

European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME by and large supports the report by the ITRE Committee calling for special measures in the framework of the new strategy for European SMEs.

However, as the ITRE report rightly points out, the strategy was published before the pandemic hit Europe and before the subsequent crisis measures took their heavy toll on our SMEs.

We therefore urge the European Commission to develop a revised SME strategy that reflects this new reality and we need these measures fast.

As the recovery plan of the European Commission will be announced this week, European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME, together with ESBA and AMSP, have sent a letter to president Von der Leyen thanking the European Institution for the sustained efforts in supporting SMEs in Europe but also asking for three extra steps to be taken.

Specifically, we have asked for:

1. No conditions to be attached to the EIB loan guarantees and SURE funds.

2. A large SME stimulus programme.

3. The funds from the recovery fund for economic reconstruction must go, with priority, to European SMEs – with a volume of at least 50 billion euros.

On Tuesday 10 March, the European Commission presented its Industrial Strategy. Alongside the strategy, it presented the new SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe, focusing specifically on SMEs . Whilst European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME welcomes the fact that the Von der Leyen Commission decided to present a specific strategy for small businesses – in contrast to the Juncker Commission – our members are all but impressed with its dated contents and lack of fresh ideas.

Let’s exit the confinement, get back to work and restart the EU’s economy in a coordinated European way. We call the EU to discuss and decide together on a Roadmap to ease in a harmonised way the COVID-19 restrictions in the single Member States to free movement of people and goods as currently, and to launch a comprehensive economic recovery programme with European SMEs in the centre of it.

Both aspects together we call it the post-COVID-19 “ Reload Europe Strategy ”.

We are deeply concerned about the health and economic situation in Europe in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. We need European Solidarity now. We need this solidarity particularly for the Micro-Enterprises, Self-Employed, Solo- and Small Entrepreneurs .

The Self-Employed & SMEs have answered to a survey of European Entrepreneurs , and ask mainly for 7 things the EU should do now, in a logic of subsidiarity with Member States.

On 1 December 2019, the new European Commission officially started its term. CEA-PME – European Entrepreneurs congratulates President Von der Leyen and her team and looks forward to cooperating with the Commission to make Europe a truly entrepreneurial force, where SMEs can flourish, creating growth, wealth, and jobs.

For this purpose we have prepared a position paper with our recommendations on key issues for SMEs, from a broad policy covering them to finance revenues supporting their activities.

Von Walter Grupp und Franziska Ebersberger.

Es wird viel getan, um uns das Fliegen, der Umwelt zuliebe, zu vergällen. Dabei zählt Luftfahrt gerade nicht zu den primären Klimaschädigern. Sie produziert weniger als 3% CO2, auch wenn die Schädigung in den letzten Jahren zugenommen hat. Allein Busse und Lastwagen verursachen rund 18% .

The European Commission is pushing for a digital tax, but an initial proposal for a Robot Tax is also in the offing. Over the past 20 years the general tax revenue has grown by more than 100%, corporate taxes by almost 150%. Thus, no “erosion” of tax revenues can be claimed to justify the introduction of ever new taxes.

SMEs strongly oppose any attempt to increase the tax burden even more!

The new proposal of the European Commission concerning funds for innovation is worsening the eligibility conditions for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME and VIU call for the SME instrument to be continued and developed as a specific SME support program for the most promising small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe.

The “SME instrument” for the promotion of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises must be continued and expanded in Horizon Europe!

The Reflection Paper on the Deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Commission from May 2017 contains different proposals to break the so-called sovereign-banking nexus, particularly concerning the completion of the Banking and Capital Markets Union. Furthermore, the development of Sovereign Bond-Backed Securities (SBBS) was taken into consideration and the European Commission presented a proposal in May 2018.

The Commission proposes the following regulatory adjustments:

1) Introduction of a definition of SBBS that lists all properties which need to be fulfilled so that a securitization of Euro area government bonds from the private sector is considered as SBBS

ƒƒ2) Regulatory equal treatment of SBBS and government bonds regarding equity requirements, eligibility as collateralfor the Euro system and as security.

CEA-PME and its German member BVMW responded to the consultation of the European Commission on the regulatory adjustments, observing that such measures are unnecessary and possibly damaging the process of European integration.

Due to the US duties on steel and aluminum (25% steel, 10% aluminum) introduced at the beginning of 2018 and mainly directed to Europe, China, South Korea, Canada and Mexico, the European
Commission has activated a safeguard investigation on the importation of 26 categories of steel products (over 400 customs codes).

The Commission is considering the possible risk is of an excess of imports for any steel products not absorbed by the American market. If that were true, there would be a consequent oversupply, a fall in the prices of products and of profits of European producers.

CEA-PME and its Italian Member CONFAPI have provided comments to such position, and while they agree with the need for anti-dumping measures, they completely reject the introduction of quotas which would alter the regular conduct of commerce and make small and medium industries experience a loss of competitiveness.

The EU and Member States committed to produce a joint synthesis report on the Consensus on Development including the impact of their actions in support of the 2030 Agenda in developing countries, as a contribution to EU reporting to the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF), when meeting at Head-of-State level every four years.

The EU and its Member States plan to produce the Joint Synthesis Report (JSR) by Spring 2019. It is intended to summarize EU progress in supporting partner countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. These are the answers of CEA-PME to the questionnaire collecting stockholders’ opinions, expressing its point of view on the the Joint Synthesis Report (JSR).