EU recognises the importance of Small & Medium Enterprises "The Power Transmission Sector is one of the few industries of this size that still doesn’t have an EU affairs monitoring and representation." In 2007, EPTDA started with the initiative of providing its members with tailored inside information about EU in an efficient and most economical way. It has provided its supporters with already three reports on EU Metric Directive, Energy Efficiency and Environment. These reports are a direct illustration of the association’s growing offer of tangible membership benefits. EPTDA now provides also the Power in Motion readers with an introductory version of each of these reports, as it fully understands the necessity of providing its industry with such valuable information. In its next series of reports, EPTDA is happy to present you the report on "EU recognizes the importance of SME’s to European economies and has introduced legislation and funding structures to support them". In recognition of the great importance of SMEs to Europe’s economies, the EU has introduced legislation and funding structures to support them. Many EPTDA members could qualify for such EU assistance and would be advised to investigate further the possibilities that are available to them. SMEs are in principle companies with fewer than 250 employees and with annual turnovers of less than €50 million. Such a wide definition includes many EPTDA members. According to the Commission: "SMEs represent 99% of all enterprises in the EU, provide around 65 million jobs and contribute to entrepreneurship and innovation."SMEs, however, face particular difficulties and are therefore accorded certain legal advantages. In particular, the European Commission has introduced measures to enable SMEs to comply with environmental legislation. The Commission’s belief that there are not enough entrepreneurs and SMEs is encouraging for our industry. The Commission says that not enough European citizens are attracted to the professional challenges and risks of starting or running an SME. It also says that legislation and regulation complicates the work of SMEs and adds to their costs, not least in respect of taking on additional employees. According to the Commission, the challenge is to create conditions in which entrepreneurs are encouraged to follow their ideas through, where the attractions and potential gains clearly outweigh the costs and inevitable risks of launching a start-up. Moreover, the conditions in which businesses operate need to be reviewed in order to remove unnecessary and disproportionate costs and procedures that stifle the creativity and growth. Acces to funding EU funds are available for promoting growth and creating new jobs in the European economy, and there are many opportunities for SMEs in a range of programmes. The Commission’s SME portal contains a useful tool for helping SMEs make applications for funding (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sme/funding_ en.htm). It explains the different programmes, their aims and the types of activity each supports. It also gives links to detailed information and contacts for further information and assistance in each EU Member State. For many years the Commission has been active in bringing bankers and SMEs together in order to identify and reduce the main barriers for financing. The provision of risk capital is crucial for the creation and growth of innovative SMEs. The Commission and the Member States are working together to formulate policies aimed at creating an integrated and competitive risk capital market. Innovative SMEs have problems when accessing finance because they represent a higher risk than other SMEs or large firms. Banks are unwilling to lend to risky customers, and start-ups are unlikely to have sufficient collateral and have uncertain prospects for income to pay back the loan. A range of other funding possibilities is available. As SMEs, EPTDA members would benefit from a knowledge of these funding programmes. A detailed version of this report is now available on www.eptda.org under the Members Only section, so log on today. For additional information and clarification on this report, please contact EPTDA Bureau at info@eptda.org. Coming up EPTDA’s next monitoring report will introduce you to the "Labour Laws/Health and Safety at work". European social partners agreed in late October 2007 upon the key principles to guide "flexicurity" labour market reforms in member states at a key meeting with EU leaders in Lisbon, bringing an end to months of bickering. Commission is determined to develop European labour laws to meet the needs of the 21st century. What this means in practice and what will change? All EPTDA members will get this 5th detailed monitoring report in March 2008. An introductory version of the report will be published in April version of Power in Motion. Speed Link InfoService Request more information by e-mail Reader Service No. Reader Number Email Address 01121    Tell a friend about this article:
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