A4-0255/98

Resolution on the fifth annual report of the European Observatory for SMEs (1997) (C4-0115/98)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the fifth annual report of the European Observatory for SMEs (1997) (C4-0115/98),

- having regard to its resolution of 18 September 1997 on the fourth annual report of the European Observatory for SMEs (1996) (( OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 134. )),

- recalling its previous resolutions on policies for the benefit of SMEs and, in particular, its resolutions of 24 April 1997 on

. the craft industry and small enterprises, keys to growth and employment in Europe (( OJ C 150, 19.5.97, p. 44.)),

. the integrated programme for SMEs and the craft sector (( OJ C 150, 19.5.97, p. 47.)),

. the coordination of activities in favour of SMEs and the craft sector (( OJ C 150, 19.5.97, p. 50.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy (A4-0255/98),

A. whereas, in 1996, 99.8 % of the 19 million non-primary private enterprises were SMEs, while 92.9 % were very small enterprises,

B. whereas the total employment in SMEs rose from 68.7 million in 1995 to 75.7 million in 1996, while the rise in employment in large-scale enterprises was from 34.6 million in 1995 to 39.4 million in 1996,

C. whereas according to the data provided by the annual report SMEs are less vulnerable to business cycle fluctuations than large-scale enterprises (LSEs),

D. whereas the analysis shows that in certain countries the number of craft enterprises in 1995 has increased as compared to 1991; whereas, however, the average size of craft enterprises decreased in most European countries,

E. whereas the transfer of ownership issue is becoming very important, as about a third of the small business owner-managers are at least 50 years or older,

F. whereas the European tourist industry can be characterised as an SME dominated sector, with around 99.95% of tourist enterprises employing fewer than 250 employees,

G. whereas the European tourist industry is facing new challenges, linked to a world-wide increase in competition, ever higher quality requirements, globalisation and deregulation and growing environmental expectations, with business success ever more clearly dependent on price-to-performance ratio,

H. whereas the European SME tourist industry suffers from internal barriers, notably commercialisation, promotion, the introduction of new technology, access to capital, inter-firm cooperation and management, implying an urgent need to push towards modernisation,

I. whereas, in order to improve access for SMEs to venture capital, it is necessary to take into account these firms' specific problems and structures,

J. whereas SMEs are affected by a number of barriers in the environmental field through lower awareness of environmental issues, lack of personnel and scarce resources,

K. whereas its opinion of 1 April 1998 on the proposal for a Council Decision on measures of financial assistance for innovative and job-creating SMEs - the Growth and Employment Initiative ((OJ C 138, 4.5.1998, p. 93.)) considered a number of new schemes, notably the SME Guarantee Facility,

1. Welcomes the Fifth Annual Report of the European Observatory for SMEs (1997) as informative and comprehensive documentation of the trends, practices and developments in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland;

2. Welcomes the inclusion in the fifth annual report of in-depth thematic studies on 'SMEs in Tourism¨ and 'SMEs and the Environment¨, which have been neglected so far;

3. Welcomes the inclusion of the new chapter, 'The European SME Scoreboard¨, which provides useful background data on the structure and development of SMEs;

4. Calls on the Commission, in order to evaluate policies directed towards SMEs in the most effective way and to perform a regular survey of small and medium-sized businesses in the EU economy, to submit an annual "State of small business¨ report to the Council and the European Parliament from next year on; this report should go well beyond the current annual report of the European Observatory for SMEs as it would not only analyse and study the economic situation and behaviour of Europe¨s SMEs but would, at the same time, provide a detailed annual assessment of Community policies and initiatives directed towards SMEs and would propose new policy routes where appropriate, thus providing an ideal basis for a regular and thorough debate on SME policy in the Council and in the European Parliament;

5. Calls once again for the simplification and improvement of the legal framework conditions for SMEs, and in particular for the long-term monitoring of new EU legislation having an impact on SMEs; welcomes, in this connection, the progress made by the SLIM project, now in its third phase, and recommends its rapid extension;

6. Calls for speedier procedures and payment arrangements in connection with SME aid programmes; therefore supports the introduction of 'one-stop shops¨ which bring all services for SMEs under one roof, thus simplifying the subsidies application procedure;

7. Welcomes the chapter on SMEs in less favoured areas and calls for improved targeting of SMEs in rural areas in programmes such as LEADER and Objective 5b in order that they can provide a better range of employment opportunities;

8. Calls on the Commission to ensure that, in future aid programmes, SMEs in rural areas continue to receive special support in the form of links between trade, tourism and agriculture;

9. Recommends the publicisation of the euro through tourism, because this is the sector in which consumers will experience the direct benefits of the common currency; considers, however, that the tourist sector does not need to receive any specific aid for the introduction of the euro because it is precisely one of the sectors which will benefit from the new currency; nevertheless, the tourist sector should be included in existing programmes to ease the changeover to the euro;

10. Recommends that the particularly difficult situation of the tourist industry in the regions bordering on the future euro zone should be relieved by stepping up EU programmes, particularly Interreg, though not at the expense of undertakings in traditional tourist regions;

11. Proposes, in the context of the reorganisation of aid policy in Objective 2 regions, that subsidies be provided for developed but declining tourist areas and that tourism be specifically mentioned in the new objective regions;

12. Recommends that, as a matter of urgency, programmes be defined for aid to staff training and the adaptation of the industry's human resources to the new reality of the single currency, encompassing the various areas affected: dealing with clients, management and accounts, tax matters, marketing and sales personnel, etc;

13. Recommends that particular importance be attached to providing information for those working in the industry; precise replies to customers' questions about the euro will only be possible where staff have themselves been informed in good time;

14. Asks that the next report from the Observatory looks at how SMEs, and in particular very small SMEs, will be affected by changes to the social security system;

15. Takes a positive view of the creation of a database on non-tariff obstacles and market access restrictions, and calls on the Commission to take action to step up funding for the Exprom Programme and promote SMEs at international trade fairs, and to support the principle of reciprocity in the opening up of third countries' markets;

16. Asks for the next report to consider the extent to which the concept of benchmarking is applied by SMEs and also hopes that, if it appears that insufficient use is made of benchmarking, the Observatory will develop strategies to improve the situation;

17. Hopes that the next report from the Observatory will carry out a comparative survey among the Member States on SMEs' access to capital through banks, stock exchanges, participating enterprises and other sources of finance;

18. Asks the Observatory in its next report to consider the extent to which coordination takes place between the various European programmes which target SMEs;

19. Draws attention to the European Investment Fund's Growth and Environment programme which provides guarantees via commercial banks in the Member States for environmental investments by SMEs, and points to the opportunities offered by this programme for SMEs to make their production more environmentally sensitive;

20. Notes that SMEs tend to have a lower awareness of environmental issues and calls for improvement in their access to the relevant documentation;

21. Notes that there is the potential for a positive employment impact from environmental regulations;

22. Notes the passage in the report relating to the care required when designing environmental regulations so as not to hamper the relative competitiveness of SMEs;

23. Hopes that the European Observatory for SMEs will be able to pursue its activities in the most useful manner and at regular intervals, all the more so since its annual report concerning SMEs is now widely acknowledged as a reference document in scientific and economic circles;

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