WRITTEN QUESTION E-1881/98

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission

(16 June 1998)

Subject: SMEs

The Commission's report to Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the coordination of activities to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the craft sector (COM(97) 0610) (p. 58) briefly describes the Europartenariat and Interprise programmes aimed at encouraging international cooperation among SMEs.

In what sectors are the SMES which have most benefited from these programmes to be found?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 1998)

Europartenariat events and Interprise events are organised throughout the Community. This implies that the host regions are each time different, and therefore also the emphasis on specific sectors is different. Events focusing on the wood industry are frequent in Sweden and Finland, while other countries may focus more on machinery or the off-shore industry. It is therefore difficult to indicate a specific sector that would be more successful than others. This must inevitably be seen in relation to the countries or regions involved.

As example, in 1996, a Europartenariat event was organised in Lulea, in the North of Sweden, in which Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish companies participated as host firms. The highest value of partnership agreements were in the electronics and wood sectors for the Swedish firms, in food processing (fish) for the Norwegian firms, and in wood and mechanical engineering for the Finnish firms.

In Greece, where an event was held in the summer of 1997, the largest group of host companies came from the sector of food and beverages (64 companies), although other sectors were well represented (textiles, clothing and leather, wood and furniture, chemicals and plastics, ceramics, metal processing).

In France, where a Europartenariat event was held in October 1997 in the Massif Central, very well represented sectors, which are also typical for the region concerned, included cutlery and tableware, health, and machinery and equipment (the latter relating to the automotive industry which is traditionally strong in the area).

Twenty nine events took place in the programme Interprise in 1997, with one third in basic industries such as agrofood (6), mechanical and electrotechnical engineering (2), metallurgy (1),and textiles (1). Among the events focusing on other specific industries were an event in Harstad (Norway) on the oil industry, an event in Verona (Italy) on transport and logistical services, DecideV in Örebro (Sweden) on the defence industry, an event on software and network in Venice (Italy), an event on telecommunications in Rennes (France), and an event on design industries in Barcelona (Spain). Particular mention should perhaps also be made of environmental technologies which were the focus of six events.

It is not easy to say in which sectors small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have most benefited from these programmes. As far as coverage of the different sectors is concerned, the Commission is of the opinion that a wide range of different sectors is reached with the programmes. As far as the concrete results are concerned, the Commission is not aware of a direct relation between choice of sector and cooperation results. Many other variables may play a role and have an impact on these results (regional characteristics, quality of the companies found in the host region, quality of the logistical organisation and of the promotion in other countries, SME support policies that may or may not be in place in the regions or countries concerned). The feed-back the Commission receives from organisers of events does suggest that, no matter what the sector chosen by the regional or national organisers, the great majority of participating SMEs are very satisfied with the events organised in their sector.