Newsletter June 2010 Foreword Upcoming Events Service and Information Past Events SME Lex Events attended by SME UNION President Peter Jungen Future events which will be attend by the SME UNION President Peter Jungen Foreword top Dear Members of the SME UNION, dear friends of SMEs! In June, I welcomed the EU Council's decision to publish the stress tests for banks for next month. It is an absolute necessity to restore the lending capabilities of the banking sector. It is only by publishing the stress test result that we will achieve the transparency and eventually raise the necessary capital base of banks. This will restore the needed trust between banks. I called for a strict European Monetary Union regime as it is crucial to reinstate the trust in Europe and in its political institutions that may have been lost in the last couple of months. One of the biggest blow to the trust has been the decision for the ECB to buy government bonds which could destroy the fundamental principles of the European Monetary Union. For SMEs it is very important that the European Monetary Regime is strengthened and that future violations of the rules are made impossible. It is therefore necessarily to fundamentally overhaul the European Monetary Union regime and to add important elements to the Stability and Growth pact. These have to include strict rules for a budgetary regime, a penalty system, which starts in a very early stage of violations of the Maastricht criteria (sort of first day) and a very tight monitoring system which allows EUROSTAT to do their audit in place. Furthermore it should include strict deficit ceilings in the member countries. Sanctions should be imposed automatically and not by a political decision of the Ecofin-ministers but rather by a public monitory group on the level of the ECB or eventually the Commission. It is important that all members can rely that these rules are applied strictly in fairness to all members whenever there are violations of the rules. Upcoming Events top 2010-07-14 Brussels, The SME UNION Conference on a Competitive Digital Market for SMEs The SME UNION will organize a Conference to which you are all kindly invited. The event will take place Wednesday 14 July 2010, 9.30-12.30. For further information please contact our Policy Adviser Cleopatra Rusu- Deaconu at + 32 2 2333 830 or at cleopatra@sme-union.eu. Programme 2010-09-14 Brussels, The SME UNION Working Breakfast on Equity Gap The European Venture Capital Association, the European Business Angel Network and the SME UNION will organize a Working Breakfast to which you are all kindly invited. The event will take place Tuesday 14 September 2010, 8.00-9.30 in the European Parliament, Salons des Membres. For further information please contact our Project Manager Gianluca Panti at + 32 2 2333 832 or at sme@sme-union.eu. Service and Information top Dear members of the SME UNION and EPP family, dear network partners and friends, We would like to inform you that our Brussels Office welcomed Gianluca Panti as our new Project Manager and Benedetta Menghetti as our new Office Manager. Menghetti Email Panti Email Green Biofuel label The European Commission called for industries and governments to set up certification schemes in order to ensure the EU’s 20% target will be delivered at a sustainable way. On 10th June 2010 the Commission adopted a package on “sustainability criteria” that ensure that biofuels do not damage to the environment. The new directive on renewable energy requires each member state to satisfy 10% of its transport fuel needs from renewable sources. The new paper contains information concerning the sustainable criteria that NGOs, industries and governments should meet in order to get a sustainable label. They should prove that their actions are in compliance with environmental standards. EUR-Lex European Commission SME Week The European SME Week is a pan-European campaign that took place from 25 May to 1 June 2010 in 37 countries. The event aimed at broadcasting the European Union’s policy on SMEs, providing information on how the EU tries to help small and medium businesses, and support entrepreneurship. The SMEs week was launched last year and is coordinated by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry. It has an important role in raising awareness to the situation of SMEs and emphasizing the importance of cooperation. European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry raises awareness about CE marking The event, organized by Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA), was an excellent opportunity for DG Enterprise and Industry to inform the visitors about CE marking. It provided information and answers to stakeholders to familiarize them with the CE marking, a declaration by the manufacturer that the product meets all the appropriate provisions of the relevant legislation implementing certain European Directives. It is an essential subject for enterprises, as CE marking gives companies easier access into the European market to sell their products without adaptation or rechecking. Lists of standards that provide a presumption of conformity with the EC Directives for the purposes of CE marking are available from the New Approach Website. Event Guide to the Implementation of Directives Based on New Approach and Global Approach New Approach Website Entrepreneurship Education The European Union put accent on the development of the skills and knowledge of future entrepreneurs who are necessary to contribute to economic prosperity. The European Commission organized several panels during 2009 and 2010 bringing together policy-makers and a range of stakeholders from 26 countries to share experiences and to discuss how to improve the level of entrepreneurship education. The Final Report of the Panel provided propositions on how to be more efficient and set priorities. Key actions should be the increase of support to education by materials, tools, methodologies; to help students to have a look in the work of enterprises, as they are best able to learn about entrepreneurship in action. National policy framework should be engaged with stakeholders and social partners in order to achieve future success. Final Report of the Panel A way forward for entrepreneurship education European Enterprise Award The European Commission, the Spanish EU Presidency and the Committee of the Regions organized a ceremony to award six initiatives from France, Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden. The event closed the second European SME Week. The award ceremony contained five categories : promoting the entrepreneurial spirit, investing in skills, improving the business environment , supporting the internationalization of business and responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship. European Commission Winners of the European Enterprise Award Past Events top 2010-06-29, Brussels, SME UNION Working Lunch on Harmonizing cross border Health Care in European Regions The European Academy of Sciences and Arts and the European Institute of Health together with SME Health initiated a working lunch on the topic of „Harmonizing cross border Health Care in European Regions” on the 29 June, 2010 in the European Parliament. Raul RÜBIG MEP opened the event with a warm welcome to the speakers and the participants. He emphasized the importance of braking down borders and harmonizing health care for all citizens of the European Union, so that equal access and quality can be achieved. The keynote speech was held by Prof. Dr. Dr.h.c. Felix UNGER, President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He stated the position that the medical industry should be left to function like a free market participant so that a patient-centered environment can be achieved. Furthermore the EU is a leading market with near 500 million clients. This is a preposition for a change in the financing of health, making medical providers act like a company by receiving contributions directly. Prof. UNGER identified that the diverse systems across the Member States make regulations hard to implement, however, he proposed that harmonization should be done on a regional level so that people from different countries but in relative geographical proximity can use the same hospitals, allowing more efficient distribution of resources. This way, EU regional funds can also be utilized. Susanna KOCHSKAEMPER, Dipl. Vw., from the Institute for Economic Policy at the University of Cologne, made an impulse statement posting two major questions – how can health care be financed and what can the EU do to help reform. She strongly welcomed the EU Directive 9948/10 as a move in the right direction but also asked for further measures especially on the national level. The lunch ended by a lively discussion between the speakers and the audience. 2010-06-25, Rome, SME UNION Conference on Fostering the competitiveness of European SMEs through the use of satellite services Eurisy in partnership with SME UNION, CEA – PME and UEAPME has organized a conference on the topic “Fostering the competitiveness of European SMEs through the use of satellite services” which took place in Rome the 25th of June.The conference, started with the welcome of the Eurisy President Colin Hicks, has had its peak with the awaited speech of Jean Jacques Dordain, Director of ESA (European Space Agency). Dordain pointed out that SMEs are very important for SMEs, since they represent a significant part of the chain. Indeed SMEs are at the same time producers and users of satellite services. Dordain, talking about the current developments of ESA works, stated that the organization needs to be connected to new different partners, does not matter if they are public or private, to gain importance. He underlined in particular the need to establish a new strong partnership with the European Commission in order to develop new services, regarding for example the data policy. EU Commission has indeed to play a key role for the spread of ESA data, which remain for the moment a privilege for ESA member states. For SME UNION side Alessandra Bianchi, Vice-President of SME UNION Italy, remarked the relevance of satellite services for SMEs. By mentioning the example of “ECOCITYLOGISTICS” in the Italian city of Parma, she emphasized the importance of satellite services in the transport sector. She also stated that “we need to establish, activate, monitor and promote a strategic plan in order to respond to a socio-economic context that had changed even further, creating necessities and different growth objectives”, pointing out that “investments in human resources and innovation are necessary for SMEs, to valorise the patrimony of local competences in order to adapt them to the new global context”. Eurisy Website 2010-06-23, Brussels, SME UNION Working Lunch on Current Trends in Banking Financing the SMEs The European Banking Federation and the SME UNION of the EPP organized a Working Lunch on Current Trends in Banking-Financing the SMEs on Wednesday 23 June 2010 in the European Parliament, Salon des Membres. Paul Rübig MEP (SME Global President, Member of Committee on Industry, Research and Energy) welcomed the participants, and Peter Jungen the President of the SME UNION of the EPP made an introduction and moderated. Markus Becker-Melching (EU Banking Federation, Chairman of SME Working Group from the Association of German Banks), Per-Ove Engelbrecht (EU Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry, Head of Unit Financing Innovation and SMEs) and Thomas Meyer (Director, European Venture Capital Association) discussed the topic. The speakers emphasized the importance of small businesses in the recovery of the crisis. They underlined the need to ease the access of SMEs to financial resources and to invest in innovation in order to be more competitive. The key role of venture capital in financing SMEs was also mentioned in the impulse statement made by Thomas Meyer, who also stated that the “know-how” is an essential part of success. Thomas Meyer Powerpoint Presentation 2010-06-22, Brussels, SME UNION Working Breakfast on European Standardization CEN (European Committee for Standardization), CENELEC, (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and the SME UNION initiated a Working Breakfast on Tuesday, 22 June 2010 in the European Parliament on European Standardization: A Way out of the economic crisis - Boosting Consumer Confidence and Supporting Industry Competitiveness . Andreas Schawb MEP, (SME CIRCLE, Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, European Parliament) opened the event with a warm welcome to the speakers and to the participants. Lara Comi MEP (Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, European Parliament) delievered the keynote speech. She insisted on the elimination of non-harmonized national standards as an important step on the path to become more efficient. The panel discussion was conducted by Elena Santiago (Cid, Director General CEN/CENELEC), Claude Breining,(Vice President Finance CENELEC, Senior Vice President Standardization and European Affairs at Schneider Electric), Ernst Peter Ziethen (Vice/President Technical CEN and Director International Cooperation DIN (Deutches Institut fuer Normung)), Walter Weigel (Director-General ETSI) and David Dossett (President CENELEC, Executive Chairman of BEAMA and Director of BEAMA Installation), Edvard Kozusnik MEP (Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, European Parliament ) and Renate Weissenhorn (Head of the Standardization Unit, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission) made impulse statements regarding the topic. The speakers emphasized the importance of actions at a member state level which can help improve the efficiency of the standardization process based on the principle of transparency, openness, coherence, consensus and national commitments. They pointed out that standardization allows European companies to compete at a national level, which is essential in Europe’s leadership in the world market. They revealed that the aim of the current process was to improve the living standards of consumers and restore their confidence. Ernst Peter Ziethen Powerpoint Presentation Elena Santiago Powerpoint Presentation CEN Position Paper 2010-06-09, Brussels, SME UNION Working Lunch on Where do innovations come from? Innovative SMEs as a driving force for the biotech and pharma industry The EUCOPE (European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs) and the SME UNION of the EPP initiated a Working Lunch on the topic Where do innovations come from? Innovative SMEs as a driving force for the biotech and pharma industry . It took place in the Bavarian Representation to the EU. In his introduction speech Mr Paul Rubig MEP, who was also moderating the event, underlined once more the importance of building an internal market for SMEs through competition and cross border cooperation. He stressed on the key role played by intellectual propriety but also by education and vocational training. During the lunch several stakeholders and policy makers took part in the debate. Dr. Viola Bronsema, Managing Director of BioDeutschland, underlined the growing importance of the SMEs in the pharma sector by comparing it to the market share of big pharma companies, proving they are becoming more and more relevant in the market. Alexander Natz, EUCOPE Secretary General, pointed out the several difficulties encountered by small-medium size enterprises in the reimbursement process. Giulia Del Brenna, Head of Unit “Competitiveness in the Pharmaceuticals Industry and Biotechnology” of the EU Commission (DG ENTR), stated that their innovative spirit makes pharma SMEs special and showed a deep interest on the topic from the institutional point of view. The lunch was concluded with a lively discussion on the topic by the audience and speaker. Powerpoint Presentation Viola-Bronsema 2010-06-01 Brussels, SME UNION Working Breakfast on Services Directive & the Impact on SMEs The SME UNION has initiated a Working Breakfast on Tuesday 1 June 2010 in the European Parliament on Services Directive & the impact on SMEs. Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION revealed that we are in a recovery period and Member States should not raise the national boarders by protecting theirs markets, but rather acting together and maintain the Single European Market. The cross border services is one of the area which is extremely important for SMEs, that is why the Service Directive has a crucial role in the future success. Malcolm Harbour MEP, (Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, European Parliament) acted the part of the moderator who strongly agreed with Jungen. The discussion was conducted by Martin Frohn, Deputy Head of Unit Free movement of services and establishment I Services Directive, (DG MARKT, European Commission), Nadezhda Neynsky MEP, SME UNION Vice-President ( Committee on Budgets, European Parliament ), Giovanni Campi Senior Advisor European Affair, (The Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry -EUROCHAMBRES), Christoph Piette (Research Department,National Bank of Belgium ). SME Lex top Compulsory country of origin labels for food On 17 June 2010, the European Parliament adopted the draft EU legislation that food labels should feature the place of origin or provenance. This regulation divides the public, as it has both positive and negative effects. Food labeling is done for the safety of the consumers, however it is questionable that mandatory origin declaration increases the safety of consumers. At the same time it may cause difficulties for manufacturers as they usually use ingredients from multiple sources (e.g. seasonal variations). Last but not least it is very expensive. Others argue, that as the European Union is already a highly integrated, common, single market, there is no point in country origin labeling. Moreover, the origin of the product is traceable already according to Article 18 of Regulation 178/2002, therefore it is already available without the label. At the same time, the MEPs rejected the proposal on "traffic light labeling" which would have given consumers a visual warning by red, amber and green values for high, medium or low levels of fat, sugar and salt. European Commission European Standardisation In the framework of the Better Regulation Policy of the European Union, the European Commission has requested a process of review of the European standardization system. The harmonized standards have an essential role in the European Union’s leadership in the world economy, as they make the Single Market more efficient. The European Standardization Organizations are facing a two main challenges. On the one hand the changing social patterns such as the demographics crisis should be tackled in the next years. Secondly new areas have to be covered such as energy, climate or environment. A public consultation is being held looking for stakeholders' opinions and suggestions in order to understand their view and to improve the current 98/34/EC Directive. European Commission Financial Reporting European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs organized its second conference in 2010 on 13th May in London. The topic of the meeting was “The International Financial Reporting Standards and Financial Reporting for SMEs” . International organizations, the Academic world and professionals attended the conference. They discussed the current difficulties and future opportunities for small businesses in their financial reporting. The review of the Accounting Directives is essential, because small businesses need a ‘SME friendly’ approach, as they are the main users of the directives. European Federation of Accountants and Auditors European Commission SME Accounting and Simplification – European Commission Events attended by SME UNION President Peter Jungen top Peter Jungen as a speaker at Annual FAES Campus, Madrid, Spain The Annual FAES Campus, which took place on July 2nd 2010 in Florence, Italy until July 11th 2010, was opened by the President of FAES José María Aznar. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION and Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics, Harvard, former chief Economist, were among the keynote speakers. FAES Campus 2010 Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION, was invited at the Euro50 Group Conference organized by Reinventing Bretton Woods, Florence, Italy Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION, was invited as a speaker to the Conference on “The Resilience of the Eurozone in a time of Turbulence”. The event took place on July 2nd 2010, in Florence, Italy. Professor Nouriel Roubini, Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi and Professor Robert Mundell, the nobel prize-lauriate, were among the speakers.Bini-Smgahi and Mundell gave a talk in the same session as Peter Jungen did: EU at a Crossroad: Initiatives to enhance the Overall Governance of the Euro zone. Peter Jungen was invited by the Jordan Prime Minister Samir Rifai and gave a talk on the topic “Globalisation and Capitalism”, at Columbia University Middle East Research Center June 27th 2010 Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION, was invited as a keynote speaker at UNPR National Conference on June 25th 2010 in Bucharest, Romania The National Union of Romanian Employers (UNPR) held its National Conference on 25 June 2010 attended by 250 delegates and important speakers from the diplomatic and policy areas. Among the high level guests were the President of the SME UNION, Mr. Peter Jungen and the Vice-president of SME UNION and President of the SME Union Italy, Mr. Cesare Cocchi. During the conference, the UNPR elected a new leadership for the next four years. The President, Marian Petre Milut was reconfirmed in this position, together with the 12 Vice-Presidents. The Participants adopted the UNPR strategy for the next 10 years, which aims at restructuring the entire institutional and economic mechanism, observing in the same time the EU principles. The strategy aimes at establishing measurable objectives for the next ten years meant to ensure a durable growth of the Romanian economy. It based on the idea, that the development of the Romanian society must start with a restructuring of the entire economic and institutional mechanism, according to the operation principles of the European Union. Romania needs a system, which is able to apply the European rules and regulations efficiently. Regarding the next ten years, the UNPR strategy try to answer for the targets of the strategy Europe 2020. Its purpose is to develop the entrepreneurial environment, create more efficient financial regulations, encourage the consumption of environment friendly product and support R&D programmes. Concerning the agriculture, complete reorganisation of the agricultural subvention system and the use of the existing resources for production premiums and the promotion of Romanian agricultural products for exports. Peter Jungen had a meeting with George Soros at the Forum of Constitutionis Europae, Humboldt University,on June 23rd 2010 in Berlin SME UNION President Peter Jungen at the Spring Meeting of the International Institute of Finance (IIF), on June 9th-11th 2010 in Vienna, “EU regulation must not hamper access to equity financing for Small and Medium sized Companies” SME-President Peter Jungen has been invited to the spring meeting of the International Institute of Finance (IIF) in Vienna which took place at the end of last week. Peter Jungen contributed as a discussant in particular to topics which are of importance for the economic dynamism in Europe. He underlined in particular the importance of access to finance for Small and Medium Companies which should not be hampered by EU regulation as it is unfortunately planned at this moment. If the regulation for alternative investments would go through it would impede or almost make it impossible to find Capital for fast growing start-ups. The planned regulation would kill almost the already substantially underdeveloped market for equity financing for Small and Medium sized Companies in Europe. Peter Jungen underlined also in Vienna the importance of a strict European Monetary Union regime. It is absolute necessary to restore the trust in Europe and in it’s political institution which may have been lost in the last couple of months. One of the biggest blow to the trust has been the decision for the ECB to buy government bonds which could destroy the fundamental principles of the European Monetary Union. For SME’s it is very important that the European Monetary Regime would be strengthened and that future violations of the rules will be made impossible. Among the main speakers of the conference which in particular dealt with the future of the financial service industry, the global financial regulation and the necessity to raise the equity requirements for banks, were the President of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, George Soros, Dr. Josef Ackermann, Chairman of the IIF, Victor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary and Josef Pröll, Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance of Austria. Lecture and Discussion evenig with Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and Professor Padma Desai, both Columbia University, New York, June 8th 2010, Amerikahaus, Cologne On the 8th of June the Amerikahaus invited Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and his wife Professor Padma Desai of the Columbia University in New York to a lecture and discussion evening on the topic “Capitalism after the Crisis: Myths and Fallacies“ in the Wallraff-Richartz-Museum in Cologne. The event was moderated by Peter Jungen the President of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs UNION. The discussion was about the change of the capitalism and that financial industry interests are becoming too powerful. Peter Jungen at European Regional Economic Forum, on June 7th 2010, Nova Gorca, Slovenia Peter Jungen, the President of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs UNION was invited to the European Regional Economic Forum which was held 7 June 2010 in Nova Gorcia, Slovenia. Jungen attended as a speaker, his topic was: “Building European Knowledge-based Competitiveness through Entrepreneurs”. In his speech he emphasized the importance of “translation” knowledge into effective performance and productive policy, which should be one of the main current objective of the European Union. Future events which will be attend by the SME UNION President Peter Jungen top Peter Jungen at Santa Colomba Conference, Siena, Italy Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION, was invited by Professor Robert Mundell, Professor of Economics, Columbia University. The conference will take place on July 9th 2010 in Siena, Italy. Peter Jungen at EDS Summer University organized by ODM (Civic Democratic Youth) Peter Jungen, the President of the SME UNION, is invited to EDS Summer University as a speaker. The conference will take place on July 19th and 20th 2010 in Zilina, Slovakia. EDS Summer University For comments and further information please do not hesitate to contact us. 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