Governments put too much effort into promoting already large exporters to new markets, revealed the European Firms and International Markets Report, presented 7 November. Instead, policies are needed to increase the number of firms competing internationally by lowering barriers to export and fostering performance in terms of employment and productivity, according to the survey.
Concentration on national champions has a negative impact on a country's trade performance, according to Bruegel. When its comes to benefiting countries' productivity and GDP, it was not the average amount exported per firm but the sheer number of firms engaged in export that mattered, Bruegel noted.
In line with the recently updated EU policy on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Bruegel recommended 'forgetting the incumbent superstars' in favour of 'nurturing the superstars of the future'.
"99% of all European companies are SMEs", Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes stated in a speech delivered at an "SME Policy Dialogue" at the European Parliament on 8 November. SMEs are the "driving force for growth and innovation in all sectors", Kroes said, but due to their lack of size, they are also "disproportionately more affected by the costs of red tape than larger companies".
In line with the Bruegel conclusions, Kroes promised to continue efforts to "make the life of SMEs easier by reducing their bureaucratic burden". But she also made it clear that although the EU can help improve the conditions for SMEs, the "possibilities must be put to best use at national level".
According to statistics provided by the member states to the Commission, only 12 percent of all state aid granted by national governments is for the sole benefit of SMEs. UEAMPE President Goerg Toifl called these figures "a wake-up call for more action at national level to redirect aid from unproductive national champions to the companies that most need it".
