By Martin Banks - 5th October 2011
Our experts feel that the voice of SMEs now matter more in the EU policymaking process
Gerhard Huemer, UEAPME director
European institutions still have a "long way to go" when it comes to "thinking small first" in supporting the business world, according to a new survey.
The survey, conducted by the business organization UEAPME, was released on Wednesday to coincide with the European SME Week.
It aims to assess the extent to which the EU institutions and national governments are fulfilling their commitment to respect the "think small first" principle and to implement the promises made in the small business act (SBA).
The survey says the commission and parliament fare similarly, with results on legislation improving for the second year in a row.
But, it says, both institutions were less impressive on business support, "probably due to the withdrawal of crisis support measures" and on administration, where they "fell short of meeting the expectations they raised".
Downward trends were recorded in eight out of 10 policy areas related to the small business act.
Gerhard Huemer, director of the UEAPME study unit, said, "More than two years after the act's entry into force our survey shows once more that the commitments made and the expectations raised have been met only very partially in reality."
"The EU institutions have clearly improved their act when it comes to consulting and involving SMEs in the decision making process.
"Unfortunately, this is the only positive aspect, as our experts' marks decreased both on business support and on administration. Tighter budgets can be blamed for the former, while the unfinished business of 'better regulation' is clearly getting on our associates' nerves.
"On the concrete dossiers, we have recorded progress only on public procurement and on 'second chance' policies for honest bankruptcies. That is clearly not enough."
He added, "Our experts feel that the voice of SMEs now matter more in the EU policymaking process."
Huemer added, "The take home message of our survey is that the implementation of the act is slowing down and is far from being complete.
"This is very worrying news, especially in these uncertain economic times.
"Although the crisis clearly deserves their full attention, decisionmakers should refrain from putting SME policy on the back burner.
"Neglecting Europe's most productive companies would seriously delay the recovery. We hope that the newly established network of national SME envoys and the SBA review will trigger a new momentum in this respect."
