“Small Business Act for Europe: Business without Barriers” in Prague
Today, Prague hosts a conference entitled “Small Business Act for Europe: Business without Barriers” in order to assess the initiative aimed at removing barriers to business and cutting red tape for SMEs.
The event, which concludes the First European SME Week, featured speeches by Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Industry and Trade Minister Vladimír Tošovský and European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises generate a third of the EU’s GDP and two thirds of its jobs. They are the backbone of the European economy. In order to make them more competitive, we need above all to cut excessive red tape and remove barriers to business. In this respect, I consider the Small Business Act for Europe to be a strong encouragement headed in the right direction”, says Czech Industry and Trade Minister Vladimír Tošovský.
The objective of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) is to improve the overall approach to entrepreneurship; to enshrine the ‘think small first’ principle in policymaking at all levels of the EU and to provide constant support to the competitiveness and growth of SMEs. The SBA aims to improve the access of companies to finance; to implement better regulation and to reduce the administrative burden in business; to deepen the internal market; to facilitate access to the markets of third countries and to promote entrepreneurship, innovations and business education.
During the Czech Presidency of the EU Council the negotiations of several legislative proposals that fall under the Small Business Act and whose implementation will facilitate entrepreneurial activities within the EU single market were initiated.
The Regulation providing for a Statute for a European Private Company will enable the creation and operation of a European Private Company according to the same uniform principles in all EU Member States. Consequently, it will facilitate cross-border entrepreneurial activities on the single market.
The Directive on reduced VAT rates defines a list of services that may be included in the reduced VAT category. Among such services are primarily services provided by small and medium-sized enterprises. On the other hand, the directive on late payments should ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises receive payments for all of their business transactions on time.
The Small Business Act was published by the European Commission in June 2008 and it was approved by the Competitiveness Council in December 2008. The importance of the implementation of the Small Business Act in the light of the current economic crisis was also highlighted by the European Economic Recovery Plan from November 2008 and the Conclusions of the EU Council from December 2008.
Contact:
- Tomáš Bartovský, spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic
- tel.: +420 224 853 311, mobile: +420 602 508 328; e-mail: bartovsky@mpo.cz
Last update: 14.5.2009 20:49
