Governments warned against ‘dragging feet’ on SME policy

EU member states must not delay implementation of Brussels’ efforts to cut red tape for businesses, according to European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, who is responsible for enterprise and industry.

Speaking after the launch of the first European SME Week in Brussels, which gathered entrepreneurs to share their experiences of running their own business, Verheugen acknowledged that it can be difficult for the EU executive to encourage a change of mindset across member states. 

“It is something that is difficult to change here in Brussels. I can promise you that those countries that are a little sluggish and dragging their feet will get a very clear recommendation to perform better,” he told EURACTIV. 

Commissioner Verheugen said there was an appreciation at European level that SMEs are “the key economic sector for sustainable growth in the future,” adding that he expected the incoming Swedish EU Presidency to put SME policy high on its agenda. 

He said there had been significant improvements made in cutting the administrative burden, explaining that the time needed to establish a company in Germany had reduced significantly. 

“In Germany, the situation was certainly among the worst, but they’ve done a lot. They have reduced the time that is required to found a business everywhere in Germany,” he said, adding that the state of Hessen had shown it is possible to set up a firm within a week. 

SMEs have complained that regulations introduced by EU countries are undermining efforts by the European Commission to make it easier to establish and run companies. 

Georg Toifl, president of UEAPME, said the bureaucratic environment across Europe was not always business-friendly. 

“One of the biggest troubles is red tape. This is not so much a problem at European level in Brussels, but at national level. Some of the rules that are made at the national level makes life more difficult for us. We find that these rules are often unnecessary and if I had one wish it would be to cut red tape,” said Toifl. 

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