Council Conclusions

of 26 November 2002

on a more competitive environment for enterprises

(2003/C 39/04)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. RECALLING:

- the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council on the strategy for making the European Union the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion by 2010, and the further elaboration of this strategy by the Stockholm, Gothenburg and Barcelona European Councils,

- the conclusions of the Stockholm European Council, requesting Member States and the Commission to improve statistical information necessary for benchmarking, and inviting the Commission to reflect on the use of quantitative targets in enterprise policy,

- that the Lisbon European Council decided to apply an open method of coordination which involves establishing, where appropriate, quantitative and qualitative indicators and benchmarks against the best in the world and tailored to the needs of different Member States and sectors as a means of comparing best practice,

- the European Charter for Small Enterprises which calls for the creation of the best possible environment for small enterprises,

- the Council Decision on a Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, and in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (2001 to 2005).

2. WELCOMES:

- the Commission's Communication "Better Environment for Enterprises" and related staff working papers, which point to progress as well as the need for strengthened efforts in many areas of enterprise policy, and which also include information on the candidate countries and indicators on sustainable development,

- the Commission's intention to review industrial policy in the light of the globalisation and the advent of enlargement,

- the Commission's intention to present a green paper on entrepreneurship.

3. EMPHASISES:

- the need to redouble the efforts to promote growth and competitiveness in order to meet the Lisbon goal, noting that the slowdown in economic growth should not be allowed to detract attention from the implementation of the commitments of the Lisbon strategy,

- that structural reforms and the improvement of the framework conditions for enterprises are crucial to growth and that raising public awareness on these matters is essential,

- that necessary improvements in the business environment require further work at the appropriate level in a wide range of areas relevant for competitiveness, noting that the conditions for SMEs remain a task of critical importance,

- the need to ensure the competitiveness of European enterprises with the appropriate balance between the three pillars - social, economic and environmental - of sustainable development, and STRESSES in particular the need in all policy areas to assess effects on competitiveness, with reference to global markets,

- that improving the quality of rules and regulations is crucial to the European Union in becoming more competitive and that achieving better regulation is an important responsibility for the Community Institutions and Member States,

- that learning from best practices can further improve the performance of Member States.

4. RECOGNISES:

- the progress in developing a framework of quantitative targets which may be set by Member States on a voluntary basis in seven areas of enterprise policy crucial to competitiveness: entrepreneurship, regulatory and administrative environment, access to finance, access to human capital, innovation and knowledge diffusion, access to ICT and open and well-functioning markets,

- that quantitative targets can be a useful contribution to achieve concrete objectives and to increase focus and momentum in enterprise policy, noting that most Member States see a need to continue the work on such targets, in order to build on the targets already declared and further integrate their use in enterprise policy.

5. INVITES THE MEMBER STATES TO:

- further develop quantitative and qualitative targets on a voluntary basis in areas where Member States consider it relevant and with due consideration to structural differences,

- develop a more systematic dissemination of best-practices in enterprise policy and, when developing policies, to take into account identified best practices, emphasising in particular the results of the best procedure projects.

6. INVITES THE COMMISSION TO:

- adopt a comprehensive and strategic approach to competitiveness, and to focus its work on the structural determinants of enterprise competitiveness in all sectors,

- facilitate the exchange of best practices in order to enable the Member States to learn more efficiently from each other,

- refine its analytical framework for competitiveness policy, and, in that respect, take into account in the work on quantitative targets, the results from other reports and procedures,

- report within a streamlined approach to the Council on a regular basis on the progress in the quantitative targets in order to contribute to a strategic discussion on competitiveness in the Council,

- continue to include information on candidate countries in benchmarking exercises with a view to ensuring comparability of data across countries.

7. INVITES THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION TO:

- further develop the work on identifying, benchmarking and exchanging best practises in the area of enterprise policy across the European Union and candidate countries,

- continue the work on a voluntary basis on quantitative and qualitative targets with the aim of further integrating their use in enterprise policy,

- discuss enterprise policies developed in the Member States and in this regard to consider the possibilities to organise periodic monitoring, evaluation and peer review as mutual learning processes on a voluntary basis.