A4-0104/97

Resolution on the Commission communication on the craft industry and small enterprises, keys to growth and employment in Europe (COM(95)0502 - C4-0503/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission communication (COM(95)0502 - C4-0503/95),

- having regard to the deliberations at its hearing on the subject held on 31 October 1996,

- having regard to its resolution of 24 May 1996 on the Commission's Communication 'The European Observatory for SMEs - Comments by the Commission on the Third Annual Report (1995) (( OJ C 166, 10.6.1996, p. 238.)),

- having regard to its opinion of 19 September 1996 on the proposal for a Council Decision on the Third Multiannual Programme for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (1997-2000) (( OJ C 320, 28.10.1996, p. 153.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A4-0104/97),

A. whereas the creation of employment is the most important issue for the EU today,

B. whereas jobs are predominantely being created in small and especially micro enterprises (which are by far the majority of the small enterprises, the average European enterprise employing six persons), craft and small enterprises having accounted for 60 to 80% of the new jobs created in the past five years and a study supported by the Commission showing that the average percentage of job creation in the 500 most dynamic SMEs was 158% in the last five years, whilst it was 1035% in enterprises with less than ten workers,

C. whereas the Berlin Conference can on the one hand be considered to have been successful as far as the identification of the challenges facing the sector under review is concerned, but on the other hand until now only about 50% of the measures proposed by the Conference have been implemented,

D. whereas although numerous actions in various fields have been taken to create a favourable environment for the craft industry and small enterprises, they are still facing severe difficulties - 50% of all SMEs ceasing activity five years after start-up - and can only fulfil their function of job creation in a satisfying way if those actions are improved and increased,

E. whereas the participation of the crafts industry and small enterprises in the respective European support programmes - while no precise figures exist - is still insufficient for various reasons, such as complicated application procedures, insufficient information and impractical selection criteria,

F. whereas participation in European training programmes is low due to the difficulty of managers or employees staying away from work for a longer period,

G. whereas, in order to support small enterprises efficiently, their specific characteristics must be taken into account, i.e. the strong link between family and enterprise, the non-existence of industrial mass production, the unique, unrepeatable nature of goods produced and services rendered, the minimum scale of production, as well as their very specific needs deriving from these characteristics,

H. whereas low equity supply as well as access to credit remain key problems of small enterprises; whereas the creation of the European Stock Exchange for fast growing SMEs (EASDAQ) was not targeted at the category of the smallest enterprises, thereby leaving the very different specific needs of this sector virtually unaddressed,

I. whereas support for the crafts industry and small enterprises is all the more important in rural areas and the outermost regions, where often high unemployment is prevalent and where small enterprises are often the only source of employment,

J. whereas the number of persons willing to set up in business und thus create employment is generally decreasing and it is a fact that the higher the degree of education the lesser the willingness to set up in business,

K. whereas this shows that more attention should be given in today's training and education to create a 'spirit of initiative, responsibility and entrepreneurship',

L. whereas much remains to be done to improve management techniques and the working conditions of employees in this sector,

1. Regrets that, although the important role of the crafts industry and small enterprises is generally acknowledged, there is a clear incoherence when it comes to the concrete implementation of policies, actions and programmes for their support, which are often delayed or cut down; regrets in particular that the Finance Ministers have still not given the green light for the European loan guarantee arrangement for employment (Elise);

2. Recalls the fundamental contribution to the growth and maintenance of employment made by small businesses and the craft industry and considers it therefore necessary to step up the Union's financial commitment;

3. Considers it essential, in view of the new role played by the social partners in the development of a European social dimension, to promote the direct involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Union's decision- making mechanisms;

4. Draws attention to the fact that small companies and especially new business start-ups are disproportionately affected by administrative burdens and calls on the responsible institutions to review thoroughly their policies and reduce the bureaucratic costs in this sector where possible and to make sure that new regulations are simple, practical and lasting in order to create a stable and flexible environment for entrepreneurs;

5. Emphasizes, however, that simpler legislation for this sector must not lead to the lowering of environmental and health protection standards;

6. Believes that the craft industry and small enterprises must be involved in standardization activities at both national and Community level and that the resources of the European association which represents the specific features of the craft industry and small and medium-sized enterprises in the activities of the European standardization committees must be increased;

7. Advocates the establishment of a network of the national organizations representing the craft industry and small enterprises, which should create certification systems adapted to the needs of the enterprises;

8. Points out that tools and programmes to support the craft industry and small enterprises must be especially designed to meet their specific needs and that the new definition of SMEs (which focuses primarily on the number of employees - fewer than 10 for micro-enterprises, between 10 and 50 for small enterprises and between 50 and 250 for medium-sized enterprises - the degree of independence, the turnover figure and the balance sheet total) is therefore conducive to a purposeful and effective policy on the craft industry and small enterprises;

9. Calls on the Commission to ensure that access to Community programmes is made as easy as possible for small enterprises and that they receive the necessary assistance concerning information, application and implementation of the respective programmes, the simplification of the information and its quick availability, e.g. via information highways, being a prime objective;

10. Calls on the Commission to elaborate a study on the participation of small enterprises in Community programmes in order to reveal how many of the small enterprises, which are the keys for employment and should therefore be the prime target of the programmes, really benefit from them;

11. Points out that, despite their importance as a means of creating jobs, the average lifespan of SMEs is 5 years, one of the reasons for this being the increasingly widespread tendency to delay the making of payments, which drains such businesses of capital and weakens them financially; calls on the Commission to draw up a draft directive as soon as possible with a view to remedying this situation;

12. Stresses that the outermost regions deserve special attention as far as programmes and actions are concerned;

13. Calls for more emphasis in today's training and education encouraging a 'spirit of initiative, responsibility and entrepreneurship¨, beginning already at school level and comprising teaching of how to start up a business, which qualifications are required and what kind of support is available;

14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take action in order to increase young peoples' interest in the career potential of the craft industry in particular by improving and promoting apprenticeship, e.g. by including 'European¨ components (exchanges, etc.) in training;

15. Points out that small enterprises and craft businesses need constant assistance and the help of external support services due to the lack of expert staff of their own and calls on the professional organizations to recruit and train business advisors in order to ensure quality support for the whole life of businesses (life-long advising);

16. Emphasizes that special attention and financial aid should be given to small enterprises and craft industry which use 'best practice' in the field of environmental protection or are preparing to obtain the EU eco-audit label;

17. Points out that the vast majority of small enterprises are not aware of the manifold opportunities and challenges of the information society and sees the need to develop affordable, practical and user-friendly multimedia services as well as to ensure the necessary new qualifications, the basic requirements being interoperability of services, and secure, low-cost and efficient access to the networks;

18. Supports the Commission's view that the internationalisation of small enterprises is gaining importance and calls for specific action to support this development to find new markets for the enterprises; welcomes in this context the Commission's actions to support cross-border activities e.g. in the Leonardo Programme, Craft-Interprise, Europartenariat or in the Third Multiannual Pogramme, but stresses the need for an increase of actions;

19. Draws attention to the fact that many craft and small enterprises usually operate only in a local market, but that this does not prevent them from being exposed to the increased competition that has followed the completion of the internal market; calls on the Commission and Member States, therefore, to leave sufficient room in their competition policies for forms of competition that enable craft and small enterprises to cope with this increase;

20. Believes that traditional skills, heritage, regional orientation and the environment combine to make the crafts industries' products unique, and that this uniqueness can be be considered an absolute advantage, which must be strengthened and exploited as a selling point;

21. Sees, thus, an urgent need to create local and regional organizations in those Member States where they do not already exist, supported by Structural Funds resources, which, together with SME associations and their employees, help the craft industry and small enterprises to promote and sell their products; such associations should work closely with local and regional authorities in order to achieve greater savings and increased synergy in the sector;

22. Asks the Commission and the Member States to promote the creation, in particular in frontier areas, of local 'interfaces' for small companies and craft industries which want to benefit from Community funding, particularly as concerns local initiatives for female employment, youth and vocational training;

23. Strongly supports the idea of a European and international academy of traditional arts and crafts, which would become the fulcrum for the enhancement of micro-enterprise initiative and handicraft production based on quality guarantee and marketing dynamization;

24. Is also of the opinion that this academy would become a means for reassessing manual skills and the status of craftsman, as well as a centre for gathering and disseminating information and for research into and application of techniques and solutions, both through the recovery of old knowledge and the introduction of new materials, technologies and design;

25. Points to the paramount importance of facilitating access to credit for support for the development of this important category of the economy;

26. Welcomes the Round Table of Banks and SMEs as a means of improving the relationship between SMEs and financial institutions and to exchange best practice but points out that as far as the question of financing is concerned, the best, most practical solutions can be found at national or even regional levels due to the manifold differences in the Member States;

27. Calls for the creation and promotion of mutual guarantee systems, as well as guarantee banks, as an effective tool to support the financing of small enterprises;

28. Considers it essential for the Commission to seek measures to promote the lowering of VAT on labour-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises;

29. Resolves to put forward, when the Green Paper on government procurement in the European Union is considered, suggestions for increasing the chances of craft and small enterprises being awarded government contracts;

30. Draws attention to the difficult situation of women entrepreneurs and working spouses in the skilled crafts and SMEs and calls for initiatives for their support, e.g. the creation of a European network for women entrepreneurs and the exchange of best practice to support women entrepreneurs; calls on the Commission to submit as soon as possible a proposal for the modification of Directive 86/613 and to take account in this context of Parliament's resolution of 21 February 1997 on the situation of the assisting spouses of the self-employed ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 10.)); welcomes in this context the incorporation of training for spouses into the priorities of the Leonardo Programme;

31. Draws also attention to the situation of female staff in the craft industry and SMEs and calls for initiatives for increasing the number of more highly qualified female staff in employment and asks for support to be given for special qualification and "networking¨ schemes of female staff in this sector;

32. Recalls that in its opinion of 3 May 1994 ((OJ C 205, 25.7.1994, p. 60.)) and its decision of 26 October 1994 ((OJ C 323, 21.11.1994, p. 58.)) on the Leonardo programme, it advocated a 'European vocational training passport'; expresses similar support for the Commission's idea of submitting a proposal for a directive concerning occupations which are currently the subject of transitional measures;

33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to Commission, the Council and the parliaments of the Member States.