XL - Eiropas Parlaments - Europa

140 16-02-2011
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Zigmantas Balčytis (S&D). – Dar 2008 m. Taryba pritarė 15 mlrd. eurų paketo skyrimui iš Europos investicijų banko,
kuris turėjo būti pagrindinė priemonė pagelbėti smulkiam ir vidutiniam verslui krizės laikotarpiu. Paskelbtos ataskaitos
rodo, kad lėšų buvo panaudota nedaug ir tos pačios buvo paskirtos daugiausia stambiam verslui remti, o smulkus verslas
negavo reikiamo finansavimo. Kaip pirmininkaujanti Vengrija ketina veikti, kad būtų išnaudojamos ir sąžiningai
įgyvendinamos jau priimtos priemonės smulkiam ir vidutiniam verslui remti?
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Nicole Sinclaire (NI). – I just wonder whether my colleagues would agree with me how disappointing it is that there has
not been much support for a written declaration which is being sponsored by my colleague from the West Midlands,
Malcolm Harbour, who is the Chairman of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.
Today he sent out an email saying that only 184 of the 736 colleagues have signed this. Does this show that, when it comes
to small businesses throughout the European Union, cooperation is not possible and in effect it is up to the Member States
to take care of their own small businesses?
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Enikő Győri, President-in-Office of the Council. − First let me answer Mr Higgins’ question concerning the regulatory
environment. This is really very important for the existence and working conditions of SMEs.
Applying the ‘Think Small First’ principle when preparing laws and policies is a cornerstone of the new framework we are
trying to establish. This is important at all levels, not only at EU level, but − and I think you share my view − also at
national, regional and municipality level.
The Commission has revised its state aid rules to encourage Member States to direct more support for SMEs to key areas
such as training, R&D and environmental protection and to overcome the current focus on large businesses.
The agreement by Member States to allow for the application of reduced VAT rates for locally supplied services, including
labour-intensive services such as hairdressing, catering and repair services, will further stimulate economic activity and
create jobs, and the Commission warmly welcomes this decision.
In the area of better regulation, the Commission has tabled important legislative initiatives already. It has adopted a
proposal for revisiting the VAT directive to remove barriers to electronic invoicing, with cost-saving potential amounting
to billions of euros in the medium term.
The Commission also came forward in February with a proposal to allow Member States to adopt less burdensome
accounting requirements for micro-businesses, thus fulfilling its commitment in the action plan for small businesses. It has
the capacity to reduce the burden by up to EUR 6 billion. The Commission encourages Member States to reach an
agreement as soon as possible to allow Member States who wish to take advantage of this opportunity to do so, so we in
the Council definitely have to move along those lines.
The Commission will also carefully assess the likely burden of any new legislative proposals, not only for SMEs. We have
quite a number of good proposals on the table, and in the Competitiveness Council we are following this item and trying to
address as many of these issues as quickly as possible.
Turning to the second question, on improving access to finance, even in my introductory remark I tried to make a reference
to that. To loosen the supply of much-needed credit, the EIB lent EUR 1 billion to SMEs in 2008, an increase of 60%
compared to 2007.
The aim is to lend more money on these issues later on. I remember very well that, when I was still an MEP, I was
responsible for an opinion on the EIB. In my opinion for the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, I made an
evaluation. I have to tell you that the EIB reacted very quickly to the changed circumstances and reorganised its priorities.
So we welcomed those moves by the EIB.
I agree with you that sometimes money does not get to the intended recipients, and there should be better organisation. My
view on that is that we really have to pay attention to the counterparts of the EIB in the Member States, because in most
cases they are the partners. We should not always blame the EIB for the implementation, which is not directly done by the
EIB.
So I agree, on the second question, that it is extremely important that Community money and EIB loans get to the intended
recipients, that is, the small and medium-sized enterprises.
I believe the Council cannot give opinions on written declarations, so if you do not mind, Mr President, I will not
comment.