1. The European Small Business Act Focus on Implementation Christian WEINBERGER, Senior Adviser - Entrepreneurship & SME Policy European Commission - DG Enterprise Conference on SBA implementation in Slovakia Bratislava, 11 October 2013

2. Why are SMEs important ? 7.000 70.000 250.000 1,600.000 5,700.000 13,000.000 Stock Exchange Listed Large Medium Small Micro OPE 100 % 99,97% 99,7% 98,7% 91% 57%

3. SMEs play a significant role 58% of total turnover = €14.000 billion/a

4. SMEs provide employment

5. SMEs create employment  85% of new jobs are created by SMEs

6. What is the SBA ? + A set of politically binding principles + A package of concrete measures (legislative and non-legislative) + An implementation mechanism embedded in the EU 2020 strategy in order to 1 - Improve the overall policy approach to entrepreneurship 2 - Anchor the “Think Small First” principle in policy-making 3 - Promote SMEs’ growth

7. 10 politically binding principles 1. Create an environment for entrepreneurs and family businesses to thrive and entrepreneurship to be rewarded 2. Ensure that honest entrepreneurs who have faced bankruptcy quickly get a second Chance 3. Design rules according to the “ Think Small First ” principle 4. Make public administrations responsive to SMEs ’ needs 5. Facilitate SMEs ’ participation in Public Procurement and better use State Aid possibilities for SMEs

8. 10 politically binding principles ( ctd.) 6. Facilitate SMEs ’ access to finance and support timely payments in commercial transactions 7. Help SMEs to benefit more from the opportunities offered by the Single Market 8. Promote the upgrading of skills in SMEs and all forms of innovation 9. Enable SMEs to turn environmental challenges into opportunities 10. Encourage and support SMEs to benefit from the growth of markets

9. The SME Envoys The 28 national SME-Envoys (incl. HR) EU SME-Envoy

10. Role and Tasks Inside watchdog function (  Think Small First) burden reduction (  SME Test) Co-ordination of Public Services Identify and spread Good Practices Build links Outside Dialogue with SME organisations Inform and Communi- cate with "SME Public" Focal point for com- plaints & suggestions Collect Feedback on new initiatives & legislation Facilitate Access to SME Programs & Support

12. Guidebook Series Short layout of the relevant EU PolicyEU Presenting a number of actions to be taken Potential for funding from EU Structural Funds List of Current topics : How to support SME Policy from SF Transfer of Businesses Entrepreneurship Education Service Innovation SME Standardisation Regional SBA implementation

13. SME Test

14. SBA implementation at regional level A number of regions have indicated their intentions Only one region has a full implementation : Catalunya (ES) 11 regions had signed up for regional implementation of the Small Business Charter Guidebook in preparation

15. SBA Fact sheets

16. SME Performance Review Annual Report SBA Fact Overview of size and structure of SMEs in EU Trends, short - term outlook and benchmarking Fact Sheets Monitoring SBA implementation in MS Input to EU 2020 / Competitiveness reporting Stimulate policy debate in MS between administration and stakeholders

17. SBA Profile for Slovakia

18. SBA Performance in Slovakia

19. SBA Implementation in Slovakia  Very low share of Microenterprises  Only one item better than EU average (single market)  Slow progress in performance improvement  Deficit particularly on actual implementation of plans  SME Test ?

20. Implementing the European Small Business Act! Find out more about Slovakia: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts- figures-analysis/performance-review/files/countries- sheets/2012/slovakia_en.pdf

21. SBA http :// ec. europa. eu / enterprise / entrepreneurship / sba _ en. htm SME Portal http :// ec. europa. eu / small - business SME Performance Review http :// ec. europa. eu / enterprise / policies / sme / facts - figures - analysis / performance - review / SME Policy Good Practices Catalog http :// ec. europa. eu / enterprise / policies / sme / best - practices / index _ en. htm http :// ec. europa. eu / enterprise / policies / sme / best - practices / index _ en. htm SME Policy Guidebooks http :// ec. europa. eu / enterprise / policies / sme / regional - sme - policies / index _ en. htm Entr-sme-envoy@ec.europa.eu