Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Report on the implementation of the European Charter for small enterprises
Date: 2002-02-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European charter, activity report, small and medium-sized enterprises

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 6.2.2002
COM(2002) 68 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR
SMALL ENTERPRISES

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR
SMALL ENTERPRISES

Table of contents

Summary: Does the EU think small first?............................................................................... 4

Annual Implementation Report on the European Charter for Small Enterprises ...................... 7

1.

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

2.

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

Background .............................................................................................................. 7

Objectives ................................................................................................................ 7

Preparation of the Report.......................................................................................... 7

Structure of the Report ............................................................................................. 8

“Small enterprises” for the purpose of the Report ..................................................... 8

National enterprise policies....................................................................................... 9

Education and training for entrepreneurship.............................................................. 9

Cheaper and faster start-up ..................................................................................... 10

Better legislation and regulation ............................................................................. 10

Availability of skills ............................................................................................... 12

Improving online access ......................................................................................... 13

More out of the Single Market ................................................................................ 13

Taxation and financial matters................................................................................ 14

Strengthen the technological capacity of small enterprises ...................................... 16

Successful e-business models and top-class small business support ........................ 17

2.10

Develop stronger, more effective representation of small enterprises’ interests at
Union and national level......................................................................................... 18

3.

3.1

3.2

3.3

European Commission............................................................................................ 20

Education and training for entrepreneurship............................................................ 20

Cheaper and faster start-up ..................................................................................... 20

Better legislation and regulation ............................................................................. 20

2

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

Availability of skills ............................................................................................... 22

Improving online access ......................................................................................... 23

More out of the Single Market ................................................................................ 24

Taxation and financial matters................................................................................ 25

Strengthen the technological capacity of small enterprises ...................................... 27

Successful e-business models and top-class small business support ........................ 29

3.10

Develop stronger, more effective representation of small enterprises’ interests at
Union and national level......................................................................................... 29

4.

Conclusions............................................................................................................ 31

3

Summary: Does the EU think small first?

Small businesses – those employing fifty or less people – play a central role in all the
economic activity of the European Union. They are a key source of jobs, a breeding ground
for business ideas and a main driver for innovation, employment, social and local integration.

There are no less than 20 million such businesses in the EU, providing employment to
65 million people. They account for 99 % of all businesses and provide 53 % of jobs 1. The
proportion of jobs to be found in small business is significantly greater in the EU than in
either the US or in Japan, both of which find a much higher share of jobs in large companies.

At Feira, the European Council endorsed a Charter for Small Enterprises, a statement both of
the reasons why it gave central importance to small business and of its commitment to act in
their support. The Charter has become a pillar of the European Commission’s enterprise
policy and a cornerstone of the policy of the Member States. Think small first sums up the
essence of the EU’s enterprise policy, and the Charter is in the mainstream of that approach.

But are the governing authorities of the EU really living up to their commitment? That is the
object of the second report on the implementation of the Feira Charter.

One of the problems with thinking small is that it is not always easy to obtain information
about the needs and problems of small businesses. There is much more data available on SME
problems in general or the problems of large business. Small business entrepreneurs may have
better things to do than to sit on advisory committees. Being obliged to answer questionnaires
may give valuable information to government and researchers, but paperwork that is outside
the mainstream of business is one aspect of the problem of the small business entrepreneur.

For that reason, it is sometimes necessary to have recourse to data collected on SME problems
and to rely on common sense and advice from business organisations and consultative bodies
to decide whether it is also applicable to small businesses.

Small businesses may be very small indeed. In Europe, 1.2 million of them provide jobs to
between eleven and fifty people, with an average of twenty; no less than 19 million of them
have ten or less jobs, with an average of two occupied people per business.

Think small first is, then, an approach that is both well-motivated and difficult to implement.
Well-motivated, because it is economically necessary and because if governments do not do
it, the voice of the majority of businesses may simply be lost. Difficult, because there is a
dearth of hard information. But if governments do not think small first, they may never think
small at all.

Much of the policy environment of small business is determined under the competence of the
Member States. The Commission has an important, if secondary, role to play in helping
Member States improve their performance, through making use of its Treaty powers and
through the open method of co-ordination. Further, through the intervention of the structural
funds, the EIB and other financial instruments managed by the European Investment Fund 2,

1

2

Source: Observatory of European SMEs (forthcoming report).
These include, for example, the instruments supported under the multiannual programme for enterprise
and entrepreneurship.

4

the Community dimension can bring direct support. Finally, in the exercise of Community
competence, the Commission can usefully influence the environment of small business in
fields such as the regulatory environment and access to the market.

Among the various Community policies recording synergies from work carried out within the
framework of the Charter, the cohesion policy is of high importance. The underlying reason
for this is that SMEs, and notably small enterprises, are particularly important in regions that
are lagging behind in terms of development. Therefore, progress made according to the
provisions of the Charter is of utmost importance for the added value that the Community is
able to achieve based on synergies with cohesion policy.

The Charter did not come into a static situation. Action was already under way in the Member
States and at Community level on many of the issues it addresses. What the Charter did was
to focus attention on the specific issue of small business and to give it the profile that is its
due. Progress made since the Charter was adopted is not necessarily due to the Charter. That
does not matter. What matters is whether progress is being made.

Further, thinking small first is a continuous process. Thinking small first, once begun, needs
to be established as a habit. Only thus can the EU win the greatest benefits from the rich
potential of its small businesses.

Economic and Monetary Union also provides a boost to small enterprises by setting up a
stable macro-economic environment and contributing to the full completion of the Internal
Market, giving companies the opportunity to engage in cross-border trade on a much safer
and transparent basis than before. This is particularly true for small businesses.

The Annual Implementation Report on the European Charter for Small Enterprises, which is
based on a survey of work being carried out in the Member States and in the Commission in
support of small business, shows that real progress has been made and that more is in the
pipeline. It also shows that success in one or another Member State has often stimulated
success in others.

The Report is not easily summarised. Much of the work being carried out in the Member
States, when taken to the EU level, looks piecemeal. To understand the progress that is in
hand in the different fields identified by the Charter, there is no substitute for reading the
report itself.

However, a number of broad trends can be identified.

1.

2.

In a number of fields progress is being made, but it will be some time before results
make themselves fully felt. Education is such an area. Preparation for business has
traditionally not played a major role in education, but it now features in one way or
another in secondary schools in approximately two thirds of Member States. A
similar picture is evident in respect of tertiary education.

Progress in some fields is quite dramatic. One such is the process of setting up a new
firm. For sole proprietorships a business can be established in two days or less in
eight Member States and for minimal costs. For private limited companies, a
business can be established in under two weeks in ten Member States (in several of

5

them, in less than one week), while the costs are below EUR 500 in six Member
States 3.

There are signs of increasing political commitment. An example is the simplification
of regulation, business impact assessment and alternatives to regulation. More than
half of the Member States either routinely apply business impact assessments or are
in the process of setting up systems to do so. At the EU level, this issue, which was
discussed at the Laeken European Council, will be the subject of an Action Plan to
be presented by the Commission by June 2002.

While the majority of Member States have made real progress on issues like
education for entrepreneurship, some Member States still apparently make no
provision whatever to promote entrepreneurship through the education system. This
pattern is repeated in every field where progress has been made. There is still room
for more Member States to improve.

There remain perplexing problem areas that may never be entirely solved because of
the very existence of business cycles. For example, with the low interest rates
resulting from preparations for monetary union and steady growth rates, access to
loans for small enterprises has become much easier. The supply of early stage risk
capital has also increased over recent years through either public or private sources.
Yet the problem of finance for start-ups and small enterprises has become more acute
over the past six months, mainly due to the deteriorating economic situation but also
because of the re-organisation of the banking sector. In addition, risk capital has
become shyer. Even good proposals from small enterprises may not receive finance
if they cannot offer guarantees or a higher share of equity.

There are plenty of good examples of successful methods in need of further
exploitation. Businesses that start in an incubator have a much higher success rate
than others. 90 % of start-ups in incubators were still active three years later 4. Yet, if
the number of business incubators is growing, their use across the EU is rather
uneven.

Finally, the issue that is perhaps least satisfactorily addressed is that, cited at the
start, of how to ensure more effective representation of small enterprises’ interests at
EU and national level. Small business interests, as set out in the Charter, need to be
kept to the forefront of policy making. There needs to be constant pressure for their
interests to be taken into account. Better representation of their interests, however
difficult it may be, is an urgent necessity in all policy fields.

Source: Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results from the 2001 Scoreboard, SEC(2001) 1900,
21.11.2001.
Source: Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results from the 2001 Scoreboard, SEC(2001) 1900,
21.11.2001.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

3

4

6

Annual Implementation Report
on the European Charter for Small Enterprises

1.

1.1

BACKGROUND

Objectives

The European Charter for Small Enterprises, endorsed at the Feira European Council in
June 2000, is central to achieving the Lisbon objective of making Europe the world’s most
competitive and dynamic economy by 2010. It recognises the crucial role that small
businesses play in the development of competitiveness,
in
Europe.

innovation and employment

This is the second annual implementation report on the Charter. The first report 5, presented
only a few months after the Charter’s endorsement, briefly summarised the main areas of
action, since many of these had recently been covered in the Report on the Implementation of
the Action Plan to Promote Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness 6. The present report
reviews progress made by both the Member States and the Commission in implementing the
Charter’s strategic recommendations in the period since its adoption.

The main objective of this report is to identify general strengths and weaknesses in the
European Union and thereby to contribute to the strengthening of policy in support of small
businesses and maintain the momentum generated by Lisbon. Member States have made real
progress towards achieving the strategic recommendations of the Charter, but it is vital to
build upon these achievements.

The implementation of the Charter is an essential pillar in the Commission’s “think small
first” policy. In each of the ten fields highlighted by the Charter, action has been taken
through a variety of different measures. These include the Multiannual Programme for
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship 7 and a number of Best Procedure projects - for the
identification and dissemination of best practice - being carried out jointly with the Member
States 8. In addition, the Joint Employment Report 9 presents an annual overview, based on
national reports, of Member States’ measures in favour of entrepreneurship.

1.2

Preparation of the Report

The implementation report is based on detailed national reports submitted by the Member
States, and Norway, and on bilateral meetings between the Commission and national
authorities. Business organisations were also represented at most of these bilateral meetings,
and their feedback on the effectiveness of national enterprise policies has played an important
part in the reporting process. At Commission level, co-ordination has been achieved via an
interservice group that brings together all
in
enterprise policy.

the Directorates-General with an interest

5

6

7

8

9

Report from the Commission, European Charter for Small Enterprises: Annual Implementation Report,
COM(2001) 122 final, 7.3.2001.
Report on the Implementation of the Action Plan to Promote Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness,
SEC(2000) 1825, 27.10.2000.
Council Decision of 20.12.2000 on a multiannual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship, and
in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (2001-2005) (2000/819/EC).
2001 Best Procedure Report, SEC(2001) 1704, 29.10.2001.
COM(2001) 438 final, 12.9.2001.

7

The report aims to present a brief overview and summary of the main measures being carried
out. In this context, and for reasons related to its purpose and length, the report does not seek
to present an exhaustive list of the measures reported. It is also important to emphasise that
some of the measures referred to in the report were either in progress or being planned before
the Charter was adopted.

For a detailed description of the measures in question, the national reports may be consulted
on the Commission’s website 10, and through a web-based Directory of relevant measures 11.
These include contact details to help interested parties access further information, and to
facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practices. In addition, the implementation
report draws upon the evidence gathered by other Commission reports analysing Member
States’ performance in a number of key areas of relevance to the Charter 12.

Norway accepted an invitation from the Commission to take part in the report. Neither of the
remaining members of the European Economic Area, Iceland and Liechtenstein, expressed a
desire to participate.

1.3

Structure of the Report

The report consists of a chapter analysing progress by the Member States under each of the
ten areas in the Charter, followed by a chapter on progress by the European Commission.
Taking into account the fact that the Charter itself is based on a series of recommendations,
the report’s final chapter draws a series of conclusions regarding the progress that has been
made in each of the ten key areas,
rather than attempting to make a fresh set of
recommendations.

1.4

“Small enterprises” for the purpose of the Report

Most of the measures analysed in this report have been designed to support both small and
medium-sized enterprises. The Commission considers that, even if these measures do not
exclusively target enterprises with less than fifty employees, it does not diminish their value
or impact on small businesses. Both the Commission and the Member States have therefore
adopted the approach of including in the current report all initiatives with an impact on small
and medium-sized enterprises, while highlighting those measures that are specifically
designed for small enterprises.

10

11

12

For the complete text of each report, see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/charter/index.htm.
See the “Directory of measures in favour of entrepreneurship and competitiveness”, at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/best-directory2/index.htm.
from the 2001 Scoreboard,
example, Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results
See,
SEC(2001) 1900, 21.11.2001; Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament “Sustaining the commitments, increasing the pace”, COM(2001) 641 final, 8.11.2001; and
the Observatory of European SMEs.

for

8

2.

2.1

NATIONAL ENTERPRISE POLICIES

Education and training for entrepreneurship

Europe will nurture entrepreneurial spirit and new skills from an earlier age. General
knowledge about business and entrepreneurship needs to be taught at all school levels.
Specific business-related modules should be made an essential
ingredient of education
schemes at secondary level and at colleges and universities.

Most countries have stepped up efforts to improve entrepreneurship-related education at
university level. University chairs on business start-ups and management of SMEs have been
established in Germany, Spain and Austria, while universities offering courses on
entrepreneurship and management can be found in Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Finland and
Sweden. The UK government has launched a programme to promote links between
universities and business for the commercial exploitation of university research. Awareness
raising measures include an annual business plan competition for university students in
Ireland, “promotional days” in France, entrepreneurship conferences in Portugal and
information centres to support students with business ideas in Spain.

In a number of countries, notably Finland and Sweden, entrepreneurship is now a part of the
secondary school curriculum. Pilot projects to teach students how to set up and run a business
have also been introduced, with some interesting examples in Germany, Ireland, Austria,
Sweden and the UK. Projects to nurture general entrepreneurial skills, such as creativity and
independence, have been developed in Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, among others,
while prizes for entrepreneurship are available in Belgium, Denmark and Ireland. However,
measures to develop entrepreneurial skills in primary education are less frequent, with few
countries reporting progress in this area. A UK scheme trains primary school students in skills
for the workplace, while two Swedish projects aim to stimulate creativity and initiative among
six to eleven year-olds and train teachers in enterprise education.

We will encourage and promote youngsters’ entrepreneurial endeavours, and develop
appropriate training schemes for managers in small enterprises.

Guidance and support systems to help potential entrepreneurs convert business ideas into
practice have been created in Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Finland and Sweden. Their
objective is to provide counselling, training, mentoring and other facilities aimed at ensuring
successful entrepreneurship. There are relatively few initiatives to develop training schemes
for managers and workers in SMEs. Special training courses for women are available in
Finland, while the UK has introduced scholarships for potential entrepreneurs from deprived
areas and projects to integrate study with work-based learning.

General assessment

Efforts in this area are starting to pay off: Europe is becoming more entrepreneurial. While
most countries have strengthened their efforts to promote entrepreneurship at university level,
measures for secondary and, particularly, primary education must be further developed. More
needs to be done to nurture entrepreneurial spirit and skills, such as initiative and risk-taking,
from an early age and to establish entrepreneurship as an attitude rather than an academic
subject. The continuity of efforts, and the translation of results into long-term practices, must
be ensured.

9

2.2

Cheaper and faster start-up

The costs of companies’ start-up should evolve towards the most competitive in the world.
Countries with the longest delays and most burdensome procedures for approving new
companies should be encouraged to catch up with the fastest. Online access for registration
should be increased.

According to figures taken from the Commission’s Enterprise Policy Scoreboard 13, the
minimum time for setting up a sole proprietorship (employing one to two persons) is between
one and two business days in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands,
Austria and the UK. Minimum registration costs for this type of firm are less than EUR 100 in
all but two Member States. Typical times and costs actually experienced by the average
enterprise, however, may be somewhat higher.

Wider variations are apparent in relation to the procedures for the registration of a private
limited company. The current minimum capital requirements for these companies ranges from
EUR 1 in Ireland and the UK to as much as EUR 23 500. The registration of a private limited
company tends to be relatively costly in Europe, although in Denmark the registration cost is
zero. In France, Ireland, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the UK,
is less than
EUR 500 14. In all but five Member States the minimum time does not exceed two weeks,
while in eight Member States a private limited company can be registered in up to a week.

the cost

Single registration or declaration forms are being introduced as a way of simplifying
procedures for business starters, as is online registration and better communication within
administrations, particularly for tax and VAT purposes. Greater opportunities are also
available for businesses to access information and advice online, on matters such as
administrative procedures, permits for setting up a company and financing possibilities.

General assessment

While the time and costs involved in setting up a company have been reduced dramatically in
recent years in a number of countries, these are still subject to wide variations across the
European Union. There is scope for those countries with longer periods and higher costs for
start-ups to learn from the example set by their peers, some of whose performances now rank
in the world. Attention needs to be paid to regulatory simplification,
among the best
differences in the amount of paid-in share capital required for private limited companies and
to the broader process of launching an enterprise,
including provision of appropriate
information and support services.

2.3

Better legislation and regulation

National bankruptcy laws should be assessed in the light of good practice. The learning from
benchmarking exercises should lead us to the improvement of current practices in the EU.

There is an increasing awareness of the need to avoid excessive penalisation of bankrupt
entrepreneurs and to solve financial problems of viable businesses in time. A number of
countries, including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and the UK, have
taken steps to modernise their insolvency laws. In general, these efforts aim to improve the

13

14

Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results from the 2001 Scoreboard, SEC(2001) 1900, 21.11.2001.
According to the Best Procedure project on “Benchmarking the administration of start-ups”, the cost of
registration of this type of company is also less than EUR 500 in Germany and Italy.

10

effectiveness of restructuring schemes and to reduce sanctions imposed on “honest” debtors,
enabling a fresh start after bankruptcy. In a number of Member States, support measures to
businesses in financial distress are available. In Germany, several initiatives provide advice to
businesses
retired experts such as
entrepreneurs or auditors provide financial and strategic advice to insolvent SMEs on a
voluntary basis, while in France the “RE-CREER” association supports bankrupt
entrepreneurs and seeks to change attitudes towards bankruptcy. In Austria, SMEs can rely on
the assistance of specialised organisations if one of their debtors becomes insolvent 15.

facing financial difficulties.

In the Netherlands,

New regulations at national and Community level should be screened to assess their impact
on small enterprises and entrepreneurs. Wherever possible, national and EC rules should be
simplified. Governments should adopt user-friendly administrative documents.

Various forms of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) systems have been established in most
Member States, with a view to ensuring that all new and revised laws are preceded by an
analysis of alternatives to regulation, evaluation of costs and burdens on business and citizens
and consultation with stakeholders. In most cases, common guidelines, checklists and a
dedicated unit or department have been created for this purpose. Alternatives to regulation,
such as voluntary agreements, are systematically analysed prior to adopting legislation in
Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden and the UK.

Longer consultation periods with businesses prior to the adoption of legislation,
inter-
ministerial networks for regulatory reform, test panels of representative businesses to assess
the consequences of proposed legislation and special regulation units are increasingly a
feature of governments’ efforts to ease the legislative burden on business. There is also a
drive among some countries towards improving the quality of legislation in general and
simplifying current laws. Denmark and Sweden have developed systems intended to measure
the burden of existing laws on business, and increased use is being made of “retirement” or
“sunset” clauses for redundant legislation. Italy has been particularly active in repealing
outdated laws and regulations.

Small enterprises could be exempted from certain regulatory obligations. In this context, the
Commission could simplify competition legislation to reduce the burden of compliance for
small business.

Very few regulatory exemptions for small enterprises are reported, although the UK is
currently examining how to lift company law burdens, particularly those relating to
accounting and auditing, from small businesses.

General assessment

In general, more needs to be done to facilitate the return to business of entrepreneurs who
have failed “honestly” and to introduce failure as a normal phase in business development.
The interests of employees in circumstances of failure or restructuring should also be taken
into account. Most countries now use some type of economic assessment of the impact of
planned legislation; those who still have to introduce RIA systems could learn from the
practices of others. There seems to be a broad consensus that alternative approaches to

15

More good practices in this field can be found in the brochure “Helping business overcome financial
difficulties: a guide to good practices and principles on restructuring, bankruptcy and a fresh start” and
in the proceedings of the Seminar on Business Failure, held in Noordwijk in May 2001.

11

regulation must be considered and that legislation and administrative procedures must be
simplified. However, efforts must be considerably stepped up (and, in some cases, initiated).

2.4

Availability of skills

We shall endeavour to ensure that training institutions, complemented by in-house training
schemes, deliver an adequate supply of skills adapted to the needs of small business, and
provide lifetime training and consultancy.

On average, 10 % of 25-64 year-olds in the EU participate in some type of training 16. Only in
Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK is the figure substantially higher. An
increasing number of small and micro- enterprises consider the lack of skilled labour as their
most important problem (for small enterprises this increased from 17 % in 1999 to 30 % in
2001, and for micro-enterprises from 13 % in 1999 to 20 % in 2001) 17.

Europe currently faces a deficit of skills in the crucial ICT sector, as well as in other
important sectors such as engineering. Although Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy and
the UK all perform well in terms of the numbers of graduates they produce in computer
sciences and related subjects such as mathematics, most other Member States compare
relatively poorly in this respect to competitors like the US. The computer to pupil ratio also
varies significantly across the European Union, from around five or fewer computers per
100 pupils to over thirty per 100 pupils in Denmark, Luxembourg and Finland 18.

A variety of measures have been developed to encourage training in SMEs. Spain, Italy,
Austria and Sweden have introduced tax incentives for in-house training and/or the hiring of
qualified personnel by SMEs, while Denmark, Ireland, Austria, Finland, Sweden and the UK
offer tailor-made courses for managers of small businesses. Initiatives to promote ICT skills
in particular have been developed in Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, the UK and
Norway. Some of these concentrate specifically on enhancing ICT skills in SMEs, while
others aim to train individuals or the unemployed. Measures to support lifelong learning
include a Swedish initiative to provide secondary education to the unemployed, an Italian law
that recognises workers’ rights to lifelong learning and the use of leave for this purpose, the
setting up of an expert group to analyse enterprises’ skills and training requirements in
Ireland, a German project to identify skills development structures and strategies in high-
growth SMEs and to disseminate best practice solutions, and a Finnish project to develop a
skills analysis tool for SMEs. Germany and Austria both have well-established dual
vocational training systems.

General assessment

The proportion of employees benefiting from vocational training remains low in Europe.
While various training courses are increasingly made available across the EU, tax incentives
for employers to offer training opportunities, support for in-house training and other measures
to encourage lifelong learning remain limited. Despite general awareness of the need for ICT-

16

17

18

Source: Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results from the 2001 Scoreboard, SEC(2001) 1900,
21.11.2001. In 2000, an average of 10 % of 25-64 year olds had participated in a training course in the
four weeks prior to the survey (in most Member States these figures represent an increase from the
results of previous years).
Sources: 2001 ENSR Survey on SMEs, Observatory of European SMEs (forthcoming report).
Source: Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results from the 2001 Scoreboard, SEC(2001) 1900,
21.11.2001.

12

related training and the various new measures launched by several Member States, there is a
skills deficit in this field, although the level varies significantly across the EU. There is also a
need to extend efforts to build links between educational institutions and business. The
acquisition of appropriate language skills, particularly for entrepreneurs wanting to operate
outside their home market, is a further factor for consideration.

2.5

Improving online access

Public authorities should be urged to increase their electronic communication with the small
business sector. Thus, companies will be able to receive advice, make applications, file tax
returns or obtain simple information online,
therefore faster and more cheaply. The
Commission must lead by example in this area.

Electronic communication between public authorities and business can bring benefits to both
sides in terms of speed, cost, efficiency and transparency. E-government initiatives can also
add an incentive for SMEs to go digital. The number of small business using the Internet is
increasing steadily: Internet use by micro-enterprises has increased from approximately 40 %
in 1999 to 70 % in 2001, and by small enterprises from 67 % to 81 % 19.

All governments have demonstrated an awareness of the need to make their services as
accessible as possible, notably through online access, and to reduce the number of times
businesses have to submit the same piece of information to different authorities. Many now
have Internet sites that provide information and offer advice on administrative procedures,
issues. There has also been
financing opportunities and other start-up and management
progress, notably in Greece, towards linking ministries with authorities in remote regions so
that information can be shared more easily between them. Single access points that provide
business with a direct link to all government information and services are becoming more
widespread, and the Swedish government has recently developed an interactive website aimed
at providing information to businesses and increasing their dialogue with the administration.

Electronic transactions can be carried out between businesses and tax and social security
authorities in France, Ireland, Austria and Norway, while public procurement portals are
either in place or under development in Denmark, Germany and Greece. E-Envoys have been
introduced in the UK and Norway to lead the way in putting their country online.

General assessment

This is an area where all governments seem to be moving in the right direction, although these
efforts will need to be sustained and further refined to meet the needs of business. Moreover,
while registration forms can be obtained online in many countries, it is not yet possible to
register and complete the registration procedures online.

2.6

More out of the Single Market

The Commission and Member States must pursue the reforms underway aiming at
the
completion in the Union of a true internal market, user-friendly for small business, in critical
areas
commerce,
telecommunications, utilities, public procurement and cross-border payment systems.

development

businesses

electronic

including

small

for

of

19

Sources: 2001 ENSR Survey on SMEs, Observatory of European SMEs (forthcoming report).

13

The economies of the Member States are highly dependent on trade, particularly with each
other, and intra-EU trade liberalisation has been a key driver of economic growth. Good
progress has been made in a number of Member States in liberalising the telecommunications,
gas and electricity markets, although much remains to be done to achieve full liberalisation.
Increasing attention is also being given to the reform of public procurement legislation and, in
particular, to facilitating access for small business to public tenders, notably in Denmark,
Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Finland.

European and national competition rules should be vigorously applied to make sure that
small businesses have every chance to enter new markets and compete on fair terms.

Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK have all passed Competition Acts that help to align
their competition legislation with that of the EU and aim to improve opportunities for small
businesses in the Internal Market. Austria has also introduced a specific programme to help
SMEs get more out of the Internal Market. While there are still some problems in completing
the
the transposition of European Directives into national law - only Denmark, Spain,
Netherlands, Finland and Sweden have achieved the target (set for Spring 2002 by the
Stockholm European Council) of a 1.5 % transposition deficit - in all but two Member States
the transposition deficit is below 3 % 20.

General assessment

While there is no doubt that the Internal Market has transformed trade within the EU, Member
States continue to introduce new technical regulations at a worrying pace. The number of
notifications of draft technical regulations by the Member States 21 has grown from 591 in
1999 to 751 in 2000. This trend risks further increasing the burden for small businesses, who
have to comply with an increasing number of different pieces of legislation. However, it is
difficult to establish a direct link between the number of regulations adopted by the Member
States and compliance problems for small businesses. The decisive criterion is, in fact, the
content of the national regulations.

2.7

Taxation and financial matters

Tax systems should be adapted to reward success, encourage start-ups, favour small business
expansion and job creation, and facilitate the creation and the succession in small
enterprises. Member States should apply best practice to taxation and to personal
performance incentives.

Germany exempts small businesses from turnover tax and is planning a business tax reform
with incentives for sole proprietors, France has reduced the rate of corporation tax for
businesses with a turnover lower than EUR 7.6 million, Portugal has simplified its collective
earnings tax scheme for enterprises with a turnover up to EUR 150 000, Finland has reduced
taxation for low-income entrepreneurs and Sweden allows enterprises to postpone part of their
income tax payments for re-investment purposes. France has also created tax incentives to

20

21

Source: Internal Market Scoreboard No 9 (19 November 2001).
Directive 98/34/EC of 22 June 1998, as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of 20 July 1998, laying down a
procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, and of
rules on Information Society Services, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37, and OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p. 18. It
obliges Member States to notify technical regulations concerning products and Information Society
services to the Commission in draft form. While the aim is to avoid creation of technical barriers,
notifications also provide a barometer of the propensity to regulate.

14

motivate the development of business angels. Italy has created a tax credit incentive system to
support investments by enterprises in disadvantaged areas. Greece, Austria and Finland,
among others, have amended their inheritance and gift tax laws to facilitate the transfer of
businesses. Spain, Portugal and the UK have all developed tax incentives for small
enterprises’ purchases of ICT equipment and/or projects, while Belgium’s “Federal Plan
+1+2+3” reduces social security contributions on the recruitment, for the first time, of a first,
second and third worker.

Entrepreneurs need finance to translate ambitions into reality. In order to improve the access
of small enterprises to financial services, we will:

Identify and remove barriers to the creation of a pan-European capital market and to the
implementation of the Financial Services Action Plan and the Risk Capital Action Plan;

See the European Commission section.

Improve the relationship between the banking system and small enterprises by creating
appropriate access conditions to credit and to venture capital;

In order to stimulate the emergence of potential new growth companies, most Member States
are promoting venture capital for technology start-ups. Belgium’s “Bourses de pré-activité”
provide capital for analysis and business plans prior to the start-up of an enterprise, while the
new “Coupole financière des PME” brings together under a common framework existing
public finance tools providing long-term risk capital and guarantees. In Denmark, two special
investment companies have been created to provide seed and start-up capital to innovative
businesses that are too risky for established venture capital companies. The Greek
government has created a venture capital fund for new technologies and a fund for high
technology business ventures. The Austrian “Seed Financing Programme” provides financing
for technologically innovative business ideas. In Finland, the National Fund for Research and
Development supports seed financing for technology start-ups and a new seed financing
instrument for technology villages and business incubators is being created. Sweden’s
Innovation Centre Foundation provides risk loans with low interest rates to entrepreneurs in
the early stages of innovative processes and the UK’s High Technology Fund (a fund of
funds) invests in early-stage high-technology focused funds.

Mutual guarantee schemes to help SMEs gain access to credit have been further developed in
Spain and Italy, while loan guarantee funds (providing a share of the guarantees required by
financial institutions) to encourage the banking sector to increase its offer of loans to SMEs
have been created or strengthened in Denmark, Greece and Sweden.

Information and support systems to help future entrepreneurs obtain information on access to
finance have been set up in several countries. Italy’s integrated incentive plan for 2000-2006
enables enterprises submitting a development plan to obtain finance for innovation, training
and networking, while in the Netherlands the “SME Account” website and service assists
entrepreneurs in matters related to accessing finance.

Improve the access to the structural
funds and welcome initiatives by the European
Investment Bank to increase funding available to start-ups and high-technology enterprises,
including equity instruments.

See the European Commission section.

15

General assessment

Early stage financing as a share of GDP in the Member States doubled between 1999 and
2000 22. The availability of venture capital
is growing strongly, although this varies
significantly across the European Union and is mainly targeted at high-tech and innovative
enterprises. Loan and mutual guarantee schemes can help to bridge the financing gap for
businesses in more traditional sectors. While these types of schemes exist in most Member
States, the significance of their role varies widely from country to country. In addition,
current corporate tax systems give a strong advantage to investments financed by debt. For
enterprises, financing through new equity is disadvantageous, as no deduction from the
taxable base for the corresponding payment is allowed 23. At a time when Member States are
trying to develop their equity markets,
including venture capital and business angels
investments, this issue should be addressed. Furthermore, in the present context of reduced
availability of risk capital investment in high-tech firms, a more effective use of loan and
guarantee schemes to respond to the needs of such firms should be encouraged, based on the
successful implementation of these types of schemes in a number of Member States.

2.8

Strengthen the technological capacity of small enterprises

We will strengthen existing programmes aimed at promoting technology dissemination
towards small enterprises as well as the capacity of small business to identify, select and
adapt technologies.

Increasing attention is being given to improving the technological capacity of small
businesses and to promoting technology transfer from research institutes to SMEs. Belgium,
Denmark, Spain and Norway have introduced measures to encourage the employment of
technologically qualified personnel in SMEs. In Finland, an initiative has been developed to
help SMEs make full use of the potential of ICT. In Germany, a number of programmes are
available which aim to provide seed capital (and consultancy services) for new technology
businesses where no such provision is made by the market, while Greece and France have
been active in developing measures to support and create technological parks and incubators.

We will foster technology co-operation and sharing among different company sizes and
particularly between European small enterprises, develop more effective
research
programmes focussed on the commercial application of knowledge and technology, and
develop and adapt quality and certification systems to small enterprises. It is important to
ensure that a Community patent is available and easily accessible to small enterprises.

We will foster the involvement of small enterprises in inter-firm co-operation, at local,
national, European and international levels as well as the co-operation between small
enterprises and higher education and research institutions.

Actions at national and regional levels aimed at developing inter-firm clusters and networks
should therefore be supported, pan-European co-operation between small enterprises using
information technologies enhanced, best practice in co-operative agreements spread, and
small enterprises co-operation supported to improve their capabilities to enter pan-European
markets and to extend their activities in third country markets.

22

23

Source: Benchmarking Enterprise Policy: Results from the 2001 Scoreboard, SEC(2001) 1900,
21.11.2001.
Source: “Towards an Internal Market without tax obstacles - A strategy for providing companies with a
consolidated corporate tax base for their EU-wide activities”, COM(2001) 582 final, 23.10.2001.

16

In the Netherlands, public-private co-operation projects aim to improve the climate for tech
starters, encourage co-operation between large and small firms and promote innovative
clusters. An Austrian programme aims to promote innovation and the use of technology in
order to enhance the competitiveness of the SME structure, while another Austrian initiative
aims to disseminate best practice examples of innovative companies to other firms. Finally, a
Swedish programme aims to increase ICT knowledge among enterprises with between zero
and ten employees.

General assessment

While all governments are committed to the promotion of technology transfer from research
institutes to small enterprises, and to increasing their co-operation, little is reported in the
areas of inter-firm co-operation, clusters and networks. Improvement requires a long-term
commitment to these types of co-operation, as well as efforts to promote and facilitate
technological change in SMEs.

2.9

Successful e-business models and top-class small business support

The Commission and Member States should encourage small enterprises to apply best
practice and adopt successful business models that enable them to truly flourish in the new
economy.

The number of small and micro- enterprises that are connected to the Internet has risen rapidly
in recent years, from just over 40 % in 1999 to 70 % in 2001 for micro-enterprises, and from
67 % to 81 % for small enterprises 24. The number of SMEs making or receiving payments
over the Internet is also rising, although there is a rather uneven picture for the European
Union as a whole. These types of payments are now common in Denmark, Luxembourg,
Austria, Finland and Sweden, and are becoming increasingly so elsewhere, notably in
Belgium and Germany.

Ireland and Finland have introduced measures to disseminate examples of best practice and/or
success stories of SMEs using e-commerce. Spain, Austria, Sweden and Norway have
developed programmes to make SMEs more aware of the opportunities and benefits of e-
commerce, and Norway has also launched an initiative to make shopping over the Internet
safer and easier for consumers and business. In the UK, an action plan to encourage firms to
do business electronically includes targets for the number of businesses trading online.

A continuous consultation mechanism between the state, business, academic communities and
social partners on the competitiveness of SMEs in the digital economy and the e-business
environment has been developed in Greece. Germany has created a network of centres of
excellence for e-commerce, and an Internet network for e-commerce, while measures to raise
small businesses’ ICT skills have been developed in Belgium and Norway, among others.

We will co-ordinate Member States and EU activity to create information and business
support systems, networks and services which are easy to access and understand, and
relevant to the needs of business; ensure EU-wide access to guidance and support from
mentors and business angels,
the European
Observatory on SMEs.

including through websites, and exploit

24

Sources: 2001 ENSR Survey on SMEs, Observatory of European SMEs (forthcoming report) and the
European Observatory for SMEs - Sixth Report, Luxembourg, 2000. Growth is less visible in medium-
sized enterprises: from 86 % in 1999 to 92 % in 2001.

17

Denmark has launched a web portal offering a single entrance point for information about
starting and running a business, and also offers a hotline and Internet consultancy for
businesses. In France, a quality charter for business services has been developed. Mentor
programmes are available in Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and the UK, and in
Sweden there is also a network of business advisers for women entrepreneurs. Business angel
networks are now active in all but two Member States. Employee share ownership schemes
have also been promoted in several countries, notably in Denmark and France.

General assessment

Besides efforts to identify and remove legal barriers to e-commerce, the majority of countries
have developed action plans to encourage firms to do business electronically, some of which
include specific targets for the number of businesses trading online. However, while some
countries have made significant progress in terms of the number of businesses that are online,
it is proving much more difficult to get them actually to trade electronically: according to the
2001 ENSR Survey, 40 % of European small enterprises (and 43 % of micro-enterprises)
consider that Internet selling is not appropriate to their type of business 25. Strengthening of
the legal framework for e-commerce, along with infrastructural improvements, needs to be
combined with awareness raising measures and training in ICT skills to convince more
businesses of the benefits of e-commerce.

Achieving “top-class business support” means improving the day to day practice of thousands
of business advisers, operating mainly at a local level, across the EU. There are many existing
examples of very good practice and a growing sense of professionalism among support staff.
A recently published Commission Staff Working Paper 26 characterises this practice and
provides guidelines for achieving top-class support services.

2.10

Develop stronger, more effective representation of small enterprises’ interests at
Union and national level

We will complete a review of how the interests of small businesses are represented at EU and
national level, including through the social dialogue.

The creation of small business consultation committees advising national authorities on policy
making is becoming a feature of governments’ efforts to ensure a systematic consultation of
SMEs. Some of these committees, such as the Irish Round Table for SMEs, the Swedish
group of representatives from small enterprises and the Scottish Ministerial Small Business
Consultative Group in the UK, bring together small business representatives with government
officials, development agencies and academics. In Germany, a high-level federal government
representative for SMEs has been nominated to ensure that SMEs’ interests are taken into
account in federal decision-making. In addition, Spain has created an Observatory for Small
Enterprises and Norway has developed a Small Businesses Barometer.

Small businesses’ interests are often represented in the wider context of “enterprise”
committees or organisations where both large and small businesses participate. In terms of
representing small enterprises’ interests at EU level, only the UK has taken direct action,
opening up a representative office in Brussels (“smallbusiness|europe”).

25

26

Sources: 2001 ENSR Survey on SMEs, Observatory of European SMEs (forthcoming report).
“Creating Top-class Business Support Services”, SEC(2001) 1937, 28.11.2001.

18

General assessment

While most countries consult stakeholders in one way or another (for example, through ad
hoc consultation of interested parties prior to the adoption of legislation and/or within the
context of a Regulatory Impact Assessment), systematic consultation of small enterprises is
still not the rule. More needs to be done to ensure effective representation of their interests.

19

3.

3.1

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Education and training for entrepreneurship

The Commission organised, jointly with the French authorities, a Forum on “Training for
Entrepreneurship” in October 2000. As a follow-up, a project on education and training for
entrepreneurship (from primary school to university) has been launched under the Best
Procedure. The project aims to identify and assess measures and good practices developed at
national or local level in order to promote entrepreneurial skills within the education system.
The Commission has also launched a Best Procedure project aimed at gathering information
on specific actions and support
schemes targeted at women entrepreneurs and at
disseminating good practices.

Within the annual European Employment Strategy (EES),
the common guidelines on
employment policy require Member States to promote education for entrepreneurship as well
as training for entrepreneurs. The EES also comprises a peer review programme that brings
together experts and policy-makers from several Member States to review the transferability
of policies.

The European Social Fund (ESF) programmes have strengthened their focus on supporting
human resource development in SMEs. In 2000-2006, the ESF will contribute just under
EUR 8 000 million to promote entrepreneurship across the EU. Activities will include the
development of entrepreneurial skills, business start-ups and the establishment of networks to
support entrepreneurship. The ESF will also allocate EUR 11 000 million of Community
support to promote greater adaptability through, for example, more effective transfer of
technology to SMEs and employee training.

3.2

Cheaper and faster start-up

Experiencing difficulty in starting up an enterprise can clearly act as a direct break on
entrepreneurship. Considerable emphasis has therefore been placed on improving start-up
procedures. In response to a call from the Lisbon European Council,
the Commission
conducted a Best Procedure benchmarking exercise during 2001 with the active participation
of Member State experts and officials. The exercise established a clear mapping of procedures
in each Member State and assembled considerable data on actual practice,
including
illustrative cases of best practice. A series of benchmarks provide realistic targets for national
authorities. The analysis showed that there has been steady progress in reducing delays in
administrative procedures in recent years, although some of the basic elements of the 1997
Commission Recommendation 27 in this area still have yet to be implemented. There is also
considerable scope to exploit information technology, especially for online registration.

3.3

Better legislation and regulation

The project “Business failure and bankruptcy”, launched in 2001, focused on identifying key
issues, gathering relevant data and exchanging good practices on how to solve financial
difficulties and facilitate a fresh start after bankruptcy. A seminar on business failure in
May 2001 28, organised jointly with the Dutch authorities, highlighted the need for a clear

27

28

Commission Recommendation on Improving and Simplifying the Business Environment for Business
Start-ups, OJ L 145, 5.6.1997, p. 29.
Information on this seminar (report and speeches) are available at: http://www.businessfailure.ez.nl.

20

legal framework, timely intervention, restructuring of viable businesses and the need to
address the stigma of failure. The Commission has also launched a study on the legal and
social consequences of insolvency.

The Commission made three contributions during 2001 towards simplifying and improving
the regulatory environment: an interim report to the Stockholm European Council, the White
Paper on European Governance - both of which present guidelines for a better regulation
process - and a specific communication on the definition of this co-ordinated strategy 29. The
communication proposes to open a discussion upon the main topics of better regulation:
simplifying the acquis communautaire, well-prepared legislation, a new culture within the
institutions and better transposition and application of Community law.

In view of developments towards an overall strategy for simplifying the regulatory
environment, a Best Procedure project on the existing Business Impact Assessment system
(BIA) was launched in September 2000. The project seeks to explore methods of estimating
costs and benefits of legislative proposals to business and to contribute to discussions on
better regulation. Good practices were exchanged at a workshop in June 2001 with the
Member States.

Both the Member States and the Commission delivered reports on the regulatory environment
to the Laeken European Council. The Commission report emphasised, among other
initiatives, the need to implement a systematic impact assessment system for analysing and
reporting on the estimated costs and benefits of new and revised legislation. The new system
will be in place by the end of 2002. A broader impact assessment, which should include an
assessment of the impact on sustainable development, will also be up and running by the end
of 2002.

Existing Internal Market legislation is currently being reviewed by national experts and by
businesses, consumers and trade organisations in the framework of the SLIM initiative. These
reviews focus on those provisions which are unclear, out of date and which give rise to costs
and burdens for users and the national authorities. The Business Test Panels (BTP), launched
in 1998, aim to complement other impact assessment procedures by providing detailed
information from businesses that may be affected by new proposals as regards compliance
costs and administrative burdens. The Commission has undertaken an evaluation of the BTP
and is currently discussing with the Member States how to strengthen their efficiency.

In addition, the Commission launched the Interactive Policy Making initiative in April 2001.
It aims to improve governance by using the Internet for collecting and analysing reactions in
the marketplace for use in the EU’s policy making process. SMEs are invited to participate in
online consultations through the “Your Voice in Europe” website and the Enterprise
Directorate-General’s homepage. They can also turn to one of over 200 Euro Info Centres to
report back to the Commission on the problems they have encountered while doing business
in the Internal Market. This feedback will help the Commission to respond more quickly and
accurately to the demands of SMEs, the intention being to make EU policy formulation more
transparent, comprehensive and effective (see also the new SOLVIT network proposed on
page 24).

With a view to simplifying the regulatory environment and reducing administrative burdens
on business, the Commission supports the efforts of Official National Commerce Registers to

29

“Simplifying and improving the regulatory environment”, COM(2001) 726 final, 5.12.2001.

21

improve their services to enterprises and their network for the exchange of good practices
between over twenty European official registers.

On 29 November 2000, the Commission adopted a new regulatory framework for horizontal
co-operation agreements. This consists of two block exemption regulations - on the
application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to categories of specialisation agreements and to
categories of research and development agreements 30 - and guidelines on the applicability of
Article 81 to horizontal co-operation agreements 31. The adoption of these texts reduces the
compliance burden for companies by making the applicability of Article 81 to horizontal
agreements more predictable and less burdensome. These advantages are particularly evident
in respect of SMEs. The new de minimis notice adopted in December 2001 by the
Commission 32 clarifies that agreements between SMEs in general fall outside Article 81(1),
as they do not affect trade between Member States.

On 12 January 2001, the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 on the application
of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to state aid to small and medium-sized enterprises 33,
thereby replacing the Community guidelines on state aid for small and medium-sized
enterprises of 1996. The new regulation exempts Member States wishing to grant such aid
from the duty to notify their intention in advance to the Commission. The exemption only
applies, however, provided that such aid is compatible with all the conditions stipulated in the
regulation. The new regulation was adopted with the intention of simplifying administration
and should allow Member States to grant such aid to SMEs more quickly. On the same day,
the Commission also adopted a regulation 34 clarifying its approach towards de minimis aid
which can be granted without prior notification. While de minimis aid, i.e. aid of up to
EUR 100 000 per beneficiary over three years, is not limited to SMEs, aid of such size can be
expected to serve the needs of small companies in particular.

3.4

Availability of skills

The Commission has established, in co-operation with the Member States, a group of experts
to analyse and monitor the demand for ICT and e-business skills, as well as the supply of a
skilled workforce in Europe. The ICT Skills Monitoring Group (2001-2002), composed of
experts from all Member States, aims to monitor and benchmark national policies to improve
the availability of ICT and e-business skills.

The Commission’s recent Communication on the e-Economy 35 acknowledges the urgent
need to tackle ICT and e-business skills shortages and, in this context, to promote the

30

31

32

33

34

35

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2658/2000 of 29 November 2000 on the application of Article 81(3)
of the Treaty to categories of specialisation agreements (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 304,
5.12.2000, p. 3-6 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2659/2000 of 29 November 2000 on the
application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to categories of research and development agreements (Text
with EEA relevance), OJ L 304, 5.12.2000, p. 7-12.
Commission Notice - Guidelines on the applicability of Article 81 to horizontal co-operation
agreements, OJ C 3, 6.1.2001, p. 2.
Commission Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition
under Article 81(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (de minimis), OJ C 368,
22.12.2001, p. 13-15.
OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 69/2991 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to
de minimis aid, OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 30.
“The impact of the e-Economy on European enterprises: economic analysis and policy implications”,
COM(2001) 711 final, 29.11.2001.

22

development of e-learning solutions. E-learning 36 is seen as an important enabler for adult
education, with increasing emphasis on the importance of informal and non-formal learning,
and is proving to be a popular and cost-effective way of providing the necessary skills and
competence for rapidly changing business needs (up to 60% of the training needs of key
players in the ICT sector is now provided by e-learning).

The Communication on Lifelong Learning 37 presents a comprehensive strategy to support the
creation of a European area of
lifelong learning. The Communication recommends
networking and co-operation between SMEs and with training providers, as well as
partnerships with other enterprises through learning networks and competence sharing. The
Commission, in co-operation with the European social partners, will also launch a survey on
learning in SMEs, with particular focus on non-formal and informal learning.

The Leonardo da Vinci programme supports, inter alia, transnational projects dealing with the
promotion of training for (mainly) SME managers. In addition,
the programme offers
financial incentives exclusively for SMEs to take part in European exchange programmes of
apprentices and people in continuing training.

European Social Fund (ESF) support for lifelong learning is estimated at approximately
EUR 12 000 million for 2000-2006. Programmes increasingly embody a wider commitment
to develop a framework for lifelong learning in the workplace. This includes efforts to
recognise qualifications and skills and to develop multi-media training packages and distance
learning methods to support ICT skills in SMEs. The Commission also adopted,
in
February 2001, a Communication on New European Labour Markets 38, which was endorsed
at the Stockholm European Council. As a follow-up, the Commission created a high-level
Task Force on Skills and Mobility, comprising senior industry representatives, labour market
experts and teachers, which recommended a series of measures to make the European labour
market open and accessible to all by 2005. On the basis of these recommendations, the
Commission will adopt an Action Plan for submission to the Barcelona European Council.
Proposals will include actions to abolish obstacles to mobility, ensure a better EU-wide
recognition of qualifications and improve the functioning of European labour markets, such as
the strengthening of the European Employment (EURES) network to support the mobility of
workers and to assist SMEs in their search for qualified workers.

In June 2001, the Commission adopted a Communication on “A Mobility Strategy for the
European Research Area” 39, which aims to create a favourable environment for the mobility
of researchers that will, inter alia, contribute to “enhancing the transfer of knowledge and
technology between the different actors of the European research and innovation system,
including industry.”

3.5

Improving online access

In March 2001, the Commission adopted a Communication on “Helping SMEs to GoDigital
(eEurope GoDigital)” 40. The GoDigital initiative described in this Communication follows up
the eEurope Action Plan endorsed by Member States at the Feira European Council. The Plan

36

37

38

39

40

See also “The eLearning Action Plan - Designing tomorrow’s education”, at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/doc_en.html.
COM(2001) 678 final, 21.11.2001.
COM(2001) 116 final, 28.2.2001.
COM(2001) 331 final, 20.6.2001
COM(2001) 136 final, 13.3.2001.

23

identifies SMEs as being critically important for promoting eEurope, and defines specific
targets and a schedule for implementation. Member States and the Commission are invited,
inter alia, to encourage SMEs to “GoDigital” through co-ordinated networking activities for
the exchange of best practices, e-commerce readiness and benchmarking. “Reference centres”
(established networks that aim to provide information and advice in different parts of the EU)
could help SMEs to introduce e-commerce into their business strategies. A grant theme of
EUR 0.75 million has been made available for organising GoDigital workshops and seminars,
and a Euro Info Centre GoDigital campaign in eighteen countries started in September 2001.

In its Communication on “The impact of the e-Economy on European enterprises: economic
analysis and policy implications” of November 2001 41, the Commission further underlined
the need for public administrations to be at the leading edge of online service delivery and to
provide incentives for SMEs to access such services. The need to strengthen ongoing
initiatives at all levels to help SMEs acquire ICT and e-business skills is also emphasised.

3.6

More out of the Single Market

The Commission adopted its five-year Strategy for the Internal Market in November 1999,
with the aim of identifying areas that require action and keeping these under the sharpest
focus. The Strategy emphasises the need for continued structural and economic reform
measures and a strong political commitment to tackle priority issues designed to improve the
competitiveness of EU businesses. The Commission reviews the Internal Market Strategy
annually (last done in April 2001 42 and to be reviewed again in April 2002) to consider past
performance and make proposals for improvement. One of the four objectives in the Strategy
is to improve the business environment, in which many of the individual target actions have
specific provisions to help small businesses (for example,
the simplification of public
procurement procedures or other sectoral product directives).

In order to improve the Internal Market, the Internal Market Initiative for industrial goods was
launched in 2001. This initiative aims to ensure that Internal Market rules adapt
to
technological change without regulatory hindrance and to reduce the administrative burden on
enterprises. The Commission carried out a four-month online consultation of business
stakeholders to identify remaining obstacles to the free movement of goods and related
services in the EU. The results of the survey and an action plan will be presented in
early 2002.

In November 2001, the Commission adopted a Communication which outlined new proposals
for an effective problem solving system in the Internal Market called “SOLVIT” 43. This calls
for an integrated approach, with the creation of an EU-wide online database to facilitate the
monitoring and resolution of problems related to the misapplication of rules by public
authorities. The Commission has also set out in a Recommendation 44, addressed to the
Member States, some common principles and deadlines that Member States should follow.

The Commission’s package of legislative proposals to simplify and clarify existing public
procurement regulations should make them more readable and easier to understand. The
promotion of the use of electronic means for procurement, and increased transparency
regarding the criteria used to award contracts will benefit small companies so that they can

41

42

43

44

COM(2001) 711 final, 29.11.2001.
COM(2001) 198 final, 11.4.2001.
COM(2001) 702 final, 27.11.2001.
COM(2001) 3901 final, 7.12.2001.

24

concentrate their efforts on the opportunities where they consider they have the best chance of
winning the tender.

A major problem for small businesses is that of late payments. The European Parliament and
the Council adopted the Directive on Combating Late Payments in Commercial Transactions
in June 2000 45. The Directive must be fully implemented by the Member States by 8 August
2002. Meanwhile, an information leaflet has been distributed to the European business
community and made available on the Internet.

The electronic commerce directive came into force in Member States on 17 January 2002.
What it means in practice is that a business established in one Member State can, in most
cases, treat the Community market as its own home market, knowing that compliance with its
own national law is sufficient, as opposed to having to consider the laws of fourteen other
Member States when providing cross-border services in the Community. This represents an
enormous saving in terms of both costs and resources for SMEs.

The EU legal framework on the processing of personal data and privacy also offers the
advantage of the home country control principle. SMEs complying with the national data
protection law of the Member State where they are established can collect and process
personal data for the provision of their services, products or internal organisation throughout
the Internal Market. A clear and effective privacy policy is essential to gain consumers’ trust
and confidence.

The IDA (Interchange of Data between Administrations) work programmes for 2001 and
2002 put an emphasis on actions that provide direct benefits to enterprises at European level,
starting with a survey of the requirements of enterprises for pan-European services with
public administrations. IDA has also initiated a horizontal action to facilitate the creation of
interoperable portal websites providing public access to administrative and public service
information in the Member States. The main initiative foreseen is the establishment of a
common portal for the EU administration.

3.7

Taxation and financial matters

A Best Procedure project on transfer of business,
launched in December 2000, aims to
monitor the implementation of the 1994 Commission Recommendation on the transfer of
small and medium-sized enterprises 46. This Recommendation invited the Member States to
improve their legal and fiscal environment for business transfers, to raise awareness and to
provide support for business transfers. The Commission has set up an expert group to help
collect information on measures taken and to assess their effectiveness. The final report is
expected for June 2002.

The Commission is also carrying out a study on the legal and administrative environment for
role in the promotion of
employee stock options. These could play an important
entrepreneurship, since they help to attract, retain and motivate key personnel and also save
liquidity. However, complex and unclear legal and administrative provisions in many
Member States (in particular regarding taxation) seem to hinder their use. In addition, the
Commission has issued a study on “Corporation tax and innovation: issues at stake and

45

46

Directive 2000/35/EC of 29.6.2000, OJ L 200, 8.8.2000.
OJ L 385, 31.12.1994, p. 14 and the accompanying Communication containing the motivations of the
Recommendation, OJ C 400, 31.12.1994, p. 1.

25

review of European Union experience in the 1990s”, which analyses the strengths and
weaknesses of various policy approaches.

The Financial Services Action Plan contains measures aimed at helping to raise finance on
competitive terms on an EU-wide basis for SMEs, and at removing any unnecessary
administrative or legal barriers to the raising of capital on a cross-border basis. This is the
intention behind the proposed Directive on a Single Prospectus, which aims to ensure that a
prospectus or offer document approved in one Member State will be accepted in all Member
States. In addition, financial reporting will be enhanced by removing national variances in
accounting standards through the introduction of International Accounting Standards across
the EU.

In October 2001, the Commission issued its mid-term evaluation of progress under the Risk
Capital Action Plan (RCAP). Adopted by the Cardiff European Council, the RCAP sets out a
series of actions to break down the barriers to the establishment of a well-functioning risk
capital market in the EU. The evaluation emphasises the positive development of venture
capital in Europe in recent years and the growth of finance for seed capital and start-up
ventures. It also points out that the European venture capital industry has become more
sophisticated and better organised. However,
the depth of markets continues to vary
significantly between Member States. Particular attention needs to be given to ways and
means of stimulating the emergence of potential new growth companies, including improving
the links between the world of scientific research and that of business.

In September 2001, the Commission published a report on progress under the CREA Seed
Capital Action. The Action supported recently created seed capital funds with at
least
EUR 4 million investment capital, as a way of overcoming the early-stage financing gap.
Twelve active funds have invested EUR 102 million in 114 new companies, creating
1 637 new jobs. The majority of these funds invest locally or regionally in information
technology, communications, electronics and life sciences.

The Fourth Round Table of Banks and SMEs, which concluded in December 2001,
concentrated on the candidate countries and covered a wide range of access to finance issues.
The final report matches best practices with problems identified, and makes a series of
suggestions for action and recommendations to the EU. The Commission was requested by
the Industry Council of December 2001 to facilitate contacts between banks/financial
institutions and SMEs, to produce a code of good practice in this area and to identify good
practices in the simplification of procedures.

In October 2001,
Procedure project on establishing good practices in business angel activities.

the Commission launched,

together with the Member States, a Best

Within the Fifth Framework Programme for RTD, a number of projects to facilitate access to
private innovation finance have been launched under the “gate2growth” initiative. These
include the following Europe-wide networks: the I-TecNet venture capital forum - a network
of professional venture capital operators active in early-stage,
innovative technology
investing; the incubator forum - a network of managers of technology incubators, business
accelerators and seed funds; and a network of academic experts on entrepreneurship, training
and private innovation finance.

Based on the Council decision of 20 December 2000 on the Multiannual Programme for
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (2001-2005), the Commission and the European Investment
Fund have agreed on the implementation of the programme’s financial instruments: the ETF

26

Start-up Scheme, the SME Guarantee Facility and the Seed Capital Action. These instruments
are delivered via financial intermediaries.

The objective of the ETF Start-up Scheme is to increase the availability of risk capital to
innovative SMEs during the start-up and early-stage phases. The EIF invests on equal terms
with other equity investors in specialised venture capital funds. The funds considered under
this facility are smaller or newly established ones, in particular those operating at a regional
level, those focusing on specific industries or technologies and those which finance the
exploitation of R&D results.

The SME Guarantee Facility aims to stimulate job creation by supporting SMEs’ investment
activities, through increased availability of loan finance. This is achieved by increasing the
capacity of guarantee schemes and relates to both new and existing portfolios. The Guarantee
Facility provides four different “windows”, for (traditional) loan finance, microloans, loans
for ICT investments and equity investments.

The Seed Capital Action aims to stimulate the supply of capital for the creation of innovative
new businesses with growth and job creation potential, including those in the traditional
economy, through support for seed funds, incubators or similar organisations. This support is
investment managers to reinforce the
aimed at
capacity of the venture capital industry to cater for investments in seed capital.

the long-term recruitment of additional

the Scheme by the EU. The Scheme supports thirty-eight

In addition, through the Growth and Environment Scheme, the EIF offers a guarantee to
financial institutions that grant loans to SMEs for environmentally friendly investments. This
institution and for the company through
guarantee is free of charge for the financial
sponsorship of
financial
intermediaries and more than 4 000 enterprises. The Memorandum of Agreement signed on
7 June 2001 between the European Commission and the EIB provides a framework for closer
co-operation in boosting research and technological
innovation in Europe by offering
complementary, though independent, forms of financial support. The main objective of this
co-operation is to increase the impact of grants given by the European Commission and loans
or risk capital provided by the EIB for research projects and infrastructure and innovative
enterprises. This will be achieved by better development of synergies between the
Community Research Framework Programme and the EIB’s Innovation 2000 Initiative.

3.8

Strengthen the technological capacity of small enterprises

SMEs are an important target group of the Sixth Framework Programme for RTD, with 15 %
of the budget for the seven thematic priority areas reserved for SMEs. This amounts to around
EUR 1 700 million, making the Framework Programme one of the largest support instruments
in the world for SMEs in the field of research and innovation. Furthermore, for less research-
intensive (or traditional) SMEs, specific research actions are foreseen: EUR 450 million has
been earmarked for
the Collective Research and Co-operative Research (CRAFT)
programme. In order to provide information and assistance on the Sixth Framework
Programme to SMEs, a dedicated network of National Contact Points (NCPs) will be
established.

The Regional Innovation Measures aim to encourage regions to act in an international context
by facilitating the exchange of experience between those regions that are involved in
innovation actions. The new generation of innovative actions for 2000-2006, financed under
the Structural Funds, are particularly relevant for small enterprises. Three themes have been
chosen for this period: a regional economy founded on knowledge and technological

27

innovation (to assist
the least developed regions in developing competitive tools and
implementing partnerships between the public sector, enterprises, research organisations and
universities); eEurope-regio: the Information Society and regional development (to assist
projects in the digital technology service sector in order to lessen the handicaps of, for
(to
example, peripheral
encourage regions to build on their cultural assets or specific competencies to improve the
professional environment in the regions). A total budget of EUR 400 million is available for
these programmes.

identity and sustainable development

regions); and regional

Under the Fifth Framework Programme for RTD,
the Pilot Action of Excellence for
Innovative Start-ups (PAXIS) offers a network for economic areas that provide exemplary
conditions for start-ups and spin-offs. PAXIS regions are expected to become European
“showcases” of regional excellence in fostering innovation. A call for proposals launched in
May 2001, on “Mechanisms to facilitate the setting-up and development of innovative firms”,
will provide funding for up to twenty-two European economic areas fulfilling excellence
criteria for the creation of innovative firms, clustered into five thematic networks. It also
provides for cross-border projects on instruments and approaches to create innovative firms,
and for various accompanying measures.

“CORDIS”, the Community Research and Development Information Service, is hosting a
new service to help SMEs participate in and benefit from European research funding. It will
be of particular value to innovative SMEs that apply for research funding through the SME
Specific Measures of the Fifth Framework Programme for RTD, and for those who are
interested in applying. SMEs - especially those wishing to innovate and internationalise - will
benefit from the SME TechWeb service. Further CORDIS services for SMEs include the
Training and Dissemination Schemes. These focus on raising public awareness of innovation
processes and initiating dialogue between technologists, economic actors and their
communities. The modified proposal for the Sixth Framework Programme for RTD 47
includes a section on “Human Resources and Mobility”, the objective of which is to promote
mobility for “training purposes, the development of expertise or the transfer of knowledge, in
particular between different sectors (e.g. academia and industry)”.

To help improve the ability of public research organisations, notably universities, to co-
operate with industry and to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technologies,
the
“gate2growth” initiative (see also point 3.7) supports the “Proton Europe” network. This is a
network of industrial liaison offices (ILOs) in public research organisations that facilitates
interaction and exchange of good practices between ILO and IPR (intellectual property rights)
managers. A study is also being carried out, and an expert group set up, to identify and
promote good practices regarding IPR rules applied in publicly funded research, with the aim
of facilitating transnational research co-operation and technology transfer, particularly
between universities and enterprises,
including SMEs. This may also contribute to a
favourable environment for creating spin-offs from public research organisations.

Enhancing co-operation between enterprises and research institutions is one of the themes
covered by the “Trend Chart on Innovation in Europe”. At a workshop on “Favouring
Industry-Science Relationships through Human Capital Mobility” in October 2001, policy
makers from twelve Member States exchanged good practices.

47

COM(2001) 709 final, 22.11.2001.

28

In the Education and Training action area of the IST Programme, there is a cluster of projects
that pilot and develop best practice for advanced on-the-job training solutions in SMEs. The
objective is to foster the adoption of technology-based solutions and services that enable a
complete life cycle of on-the-job training in SMEs, including the development of sustainable
business models.

3.9

Successful e-business models and top-class small business support

As underlined by the Go Digital Communication (see point 3.5), benchmarking is a major tool
to promote further the use of ICT and the Internet by SMEs. In this context, the Commission
launched a Best Procedure project which aims to analyse and benchmark national and
regional policies and instruments for the promotion of e-business for SMEs. An “E-Business
Policy Group” (EBPG), including experts from all Member States and Norway, will issue
policy guidelines as well as establishing targets and indicators.

The “Trend Chart on Innovation in Europe” (see also point 3.8) pursues the collection, regular
updating and analysis of information on innovation policies at national and Community level,
focusing on innovation finance, the establishment and development of innovative businesses,
the protection of intellectual property rights and the transfer of technology between research
and industry. It also provides a European forum for benchmarking and the exchange of good
practices.

The conclusions of the Best Procedure project on business support services set out fifteen
guidelines for best practice 48. These included a reaffirmation of the fundamental importance
of client-orientation in support service provision, emphasis on the need for more coherent
services based on a professional approach that aims to help enterprises build their own
management capacity, reference to the need to develop support organisations’ scope for
providing services tailored to the individual needs of clients and the basic requirement to
create an evaluation culture that feeds back into the design and operation of support services.

the Commission launched the Support Measures and Initiatives for
In October 2001,
Enterprises (SMIE) databases. The SMIE project includes a support measures database of
more than 2 000 business support measures and initiatives across Europe (EU, EEA, six
candidate countries and Switzerland) and a database collecting good practices in business
support initiatives. The aim is to provide a systematic overview of business support measures
in order to facilitate comparative analysis and evaluation, and to increase transparency and
visibility.

3.10

Develop stronger, more effective representation of small enterprises’ interests at
Union and national level

A high-level consultative body advising the European Commission on enterprise policy - the
Enterprise Policy Group (EPG) - was created in November 2000 49. The EPG is divided into
two sections: a group including Directors-General responsible for Industry and for SMEs in
the Member States; and a Professional Chamber, which gathers a representative sample of
Europe’s enterprise community active in industry, services and trade unions, or in promoting
growth in innovation. The chamber includes SME entrepreneurs, and those with experience of
working in and with SMEs, among its thirty-five senior members. The Chamber advises the

48

49

“Creating Top-class Business Support Services”, SEC(2001) 1937, 28.11.2001.
Commission Decision of 8 November 2000 setting up an Enterprise Policy Group, OJ L 285,
10.11.2000.

29

Commission on the choice of enterprise policy priorities, helps disseminate information about
Commission or Member State activities and provides useful feedback on the impact of, and
possible improvements to, Community programmes. In addition,
the Commission holds
regular meetings with European business organisations, with particular emphasis on those
representing SMEs. The Enterprise Directorate-General has also recently created an SME
Envoy, a high-level official who is charged with maintaining the dialogue with SMEs.

The formalised consultation structures are complementary to already ongoing, and ad hoc,
in
bilateral discussions with European and national SME organisations. For example,
June 2001, there was a special seminar to inform SMEs about the review of European
chemical legislation. Increased use of the Internet and the possible development of the
Business Test Panel structure will ensure improved transparency from the policy maker and
more feedback from business.

30

4.

CONCLUSIONS

General

Progress has undoubtedly been made since the Feira European Council, although the
perceived nature of the changes, and the fact that many of them are recent, makes it difficult
to evaluate their overall impact. Nevertheless, the diversity of measures is itself a source of
strength, showing how much scope there is for further, more systematic actions. Given the
recent deterioration of the economic situation in Europe, it is more important than ever to
restore small businesses’ confidence and support their entrepreneurial dynamism.

Achievements vary from one country to the next and there is clearly scope for further
development. Performances also vary according to the area considered. Most Member States
have turned their attention, for example, to the need to facilitate business start-up and to
is a
improve small enterprises’ access to e-commerce. This may, in part, be because it
relatively visible issue that
to short-term improvement. Promotion of
entrepreneurial spirit, on the other hand, is a tougher assignment and is likely to take longer.
Against that, progress will be correspondingly valuable. There also remains plenty of scope
for more systematic representation of small business.

lends

itself

Education and training for entrepreneurship

Fostering entrepreneurial spirit requires a broad range of medium-term measures and a much
wider commitment to support for learning and entrepreneurship.

• The entrepreneurial spirit remains weak across Europe, despite the fact that all Member
States are engaged in efforts to promote entrepreneurship within the education system and
among other groups of potential entrepreneurs. Training needs to be further encouraged
among entrepreneurs and their employees.

• Another area of interest is business incubators. The potential for greater use of these
instruments in the EU is significant and their results have been impressive. Efforts in this
field look likely to be rewarding.

Cheaper and faster start-up

In a number of countries, the combination of time, costs and capital requirements constitutes a
significant obstacle to entrepreneurship, and further efforts are required to simplify existing
requirements; for instance, replacing the validation of documents by self-certification. Further
progress could also be achieved through the more widespread implementation of the
Commission Recommendation on Improving and Simplifying the Business Environment for
Business Start-ups.

• In order to deliver benchmark performance in terms of times and costs, the total number of

procedures for starting a business could be an important target for simplification.

• There remains considerable scope for exploiting information technology, particularly in

terms of online registration. This should be accompanied by reform of procedures.

• Member States with high minimum capital requirements should re-examine the need for

this barrier.

31

Better legislation and regulation

Businesses themselves identify this as one of the areas where reform is most urgent.
Therefore, governments’ efforts to lessen the regulatory burdens on business, and to improve
the quality of new legislation, are particularly welcome.

• Further attention should be given to repealing or retiring redundant regulations and to the
review of old legislation. The introduction of burdensome legislation can be avoided
through tighter monitoring of regulatory programmes, greater co-operation between
government departments and well-structured consultation on proposed legislation.

• More use should be made of systematic impact assessments as a working tool for
administrations when new legislation is drafted and decided upon. Early involvement of
stakeholders and interested parties, and greater use of economic analysis, should be
encouraged to support the analysis of estimated costs and benefits to business.

• Bankruptcy laws should be examined with a view to finding solutions for insolvent but

viable business and to lessening the penalties and stigma attached to “honest” failure.

Availability of skills

Despite some notable exceptions, Europe is failing adequately to address its skills gap.
Ensuring sufficient skills for the current and future needs of the European economy requires
action over the long term.

• There is a need to focus more on certain key skills in the education system, to develop
stronger governmental support for the industry-science base and to encourage business
investment in R&D.

• Beyond the education system, lifelong learning, particularly in ICT-related skills, needs to

be encouraged in order to overcome the skills deficit.

• Greater mobility of labour within and between Member States should be encouraged to
enable some of the skills bottlenecks to be surmounted and to improve access by SMEs to
a wider pool of qualified labour.

Improving online access

National administrations are increasingly committed to making all relevant documents and
forms available online, as well as to providing guidance and information via the Internet.

• Those countries that are creating the conditions for enterprises to register online or submit

tax and social security forms electronically could constitute an example for others.

• Progress in this area needs to be sustained and further refined to meet businesses’ needs.

32

More out of the Single Market

The Internal Market has already been of immense benefit to business, but it is clear that these
benefits will increase with its full completion. SMEs can particularly benefit from increased
openness in public procurement.

• Member States are reminded of the need to meet the transposition targets set by the

Stockholm European Council.

• The Commission will continue its efforts to improve the business environment, particularly

for small businesses, through the target actions in the Internal Market Strategy.

Taxation and financial matters

Access to finance is fundamental to translate business ideas into reality. Despite important
progress in this area, businesses still see lack of financial support as their greatest constraint.

• While there has been a very rapid increase of venture capital in some countries, mainly for
high-growth and technology businesses, in others venture capital is still in its infancy and
needs to be further developed. Early-stage financing (seed and start-up capital) still
constitutes a very limited share of venture capital available. There is also a need to exploit
further the financing potential of business angels, now active in almost all Member States.

• Measures to provide access to finance to small businesses in more “traditional” sectors

through loan and mutual guarantee schemes should not be neglected.

• The increasing use by the Member States of tax incentives and exemptions aimed at
enabling small enterprises to reinvest is welcome. The promotion of stock options can also
benefit small enterprises, as a way of attracting and rewarding staff.

Strengthen the technological capacity of small enterprises

All governments are committed to promoting technology transfer to small enterprises, and
increasing attention is being given to co-operation between enterprises and research institutes.
However, less has been reported about inter-firm co-operation, clusters and networks, which
raises the question of whether or not enough progress is being made in these areas.

• Improvement in this area requires a long-term commitment to promoting and facilitating

technological change in SMEs, inter-enterprise co-operation and clustering.

Successful e-business models and top-class small business support

E-commerce is clearly a key priority in all countries, and the results of ongoing efforts are
encouraging. However, performances differ greatly between one country and another. There
is plenty of scope for raising the profile, and use, of e-commerce among small business.

The extent and depth of the progress in the area of support services remains difficult to assess.
Beyond infrastructural progress, such as the restructuring of services, the creation of one-stop-
shops, regional co-ordination of service provision, the increase in web portals, etc., there is a
growing commitment to offering more coherent client-oriented and user-friendly services.

• Strengthening of the legal framework for e-commerce and infrastructural improvements

need to be combined with awareness raising measures and training in ICT skills.

33

• Member States can learn from the many examples of good practice in the existing
provision of support services. Basic guidelines for improvement include the development
of more client-oriented services, providing coherent services that aim to help enterprises
build their own management capacity and greater evaluation of services.

Develop stronger, more effective representation of small enterprises’ interests at Union and
national level

to constitute consultation committees with
While some Member States’
representatives of small business are encouraging, regular consultation of small businesses in
policy-making generally remains weak across Europe. Providing small business with the
opportunity to voice their
is of crucial
importance.

interests, preferably in a systematic manner,

initiatives

34