The Overall Perception of the Small Business Act Model Christos Kyriatzis, Acting Head of Unit, International Affairs and Missions for Growth, Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, European Commission TAIEX Workshop on SBA Israel 22 May 2013

1. EU SMEs in the crisis - Why are SMEs so important? 1.99 out 100 European Businesses are SMEs (9 out of ten have less than 10 employees) 2.They provide 2 out of 3 private sector jobs 3.85% of new jobs between in the EU were created by SMEs => All efforts to reinforce the EUs global competitive position have to put SMEs central

EU SMEs in the crisis – main trends Source: Eurostat/National Statistics Offices of Member States/Cambridge Econometrics/Ecorys Note: 2011 and 2012 figures are estimates.

2.The EU’s SME Policy Guiding principles: Subsidiarity as the starting point -> SME policy is – first of all- national business Role of EU focussed on -> areas where joint EU action may yield value-added -> issues where the EU as such has the competency to improve the situation of SMEs

The EU’s SME Policy SME Policy Competition policy Internal Market Trade policy Regional policy Social Policy Environmental Policy Fiscal policy Consumer & health protection policies R&D Education Policy

The EU’s SME Policy - The “Small Business Act” Adopted in June 2008 Main objective: create a common framework for SME initiatives and implement the “Think Small First” principle 10 principles and a set of policy actions to implement them SBA Review in 2011

The 10 SBA principles 1.Support entrepreneurship 2.Give a 2 nd chance (failure) 3.“Think Small First” (reduce burdens) 4.Public administration responsive to SME needs (e- government) 5.Improve access to public procurement & use of state aid 6.Facilitate access to finance 7.Benefit from Single Market opportunities 8.Access to skills and innovation 9.Eco-innovation/environment opportunities 10.Access to external markets

SBA Governance Network of SME Envoys SME Assembly SME Performance Review

SBA Governance Network of SME Envoys

Governance through cooperation: the example of the SME envoy network (exchange of good practices) Key- the work of the SME Envoy network: Member States have appointed their national SME Envoys (regional Envoys can be nominated) Meet 3-4 times a year, involving also stakeholders Informal meetings between indiv. MS to exchange experiences ever more frequent

SBA Governance SME Performance Review

Regular monitoring of SBA implementation on the MS- level Smart regulation Better start-up conditions Goal: start a business in 3 days for €100

SBA Governance SME Assembly

SBA governance: interaction with stakeholders Example: The consultation on the "ten most burdensome pieces of EU legislation" - open from 01 October 2012 to 21 December 2012 (and available in 21 languages) - targeting individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the organisations representing their interests - Stakeholders were consulted on: ~ a list of most burdensome policy areas where either EU and national legislation (or both) could be the cause of the burden. ~ a list of 55 specific legislative items (35 directives, 18 regulations, 2 decisions) - Number of total replies received (16/01/2013): 1000 (more than ¾ from individual SMEs, from which approximately one third of micro-enterprises). (Note: The first phase of the consultation through the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) took place from 16 May to 27 June in the form of an SME panel. Around 7000 problematic cases flagged by SMEs through the Europe Enterprise Network – only used.) - Results reported directly to the of Heads of Governments and States in March 2013

4. Complementory support programmes/measures =>SME Innovation Example: Horizon 2020 =>SME Finance Example: COSME =>SME – access to new markets Example(s): European Enterprise Network; IPR Centre China;

Thank you very much for your attention! *** Contacts: Ludger Odenthal Head, SME Perfomance Review Team European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry Unit D4, Small Business Act, SME Policies BREY 05/339 B-1049 Brussels/Belgium European Small Business Portal SME Performance Review review/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/performance- review/index_en.htm