SME Impact Assessment for Covid-19 - Survey Presentation
Open letter to Thierry Breton on mitigating the harmful economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on SMEs, young entrepreneurs and their access to European programmes
Open Letter to Charles Michel
and Ursula von der Leyen
on new regulatory burdens for SMEs
during the COVID-19 crisis
"European Green Deal: Technologies & Policies towards a Carbon-Neutral Road Transport by 2050"
We stand for
European SMEs!
We are the biggest political organisation in Europe that operates for the rights of small and medium sized enterprises, creating and developing a common European SME friendly policy
SMEs are the power cells of the European economy. At the same time, they are also the most vulnerable to the economic cycles and bad government decisions. Our common goal is to secure the best possible opportunities for the development, creation of new jobs, innovation and success stories in Europe. I will continue my work towards these goals.
Ivan Stefanec Member of the European Parliament,
President of SME Europe
SMEs create new jobs and drive economic growth. The constructive part of my political vision is to design strategies with the needs of SMEs in mind, helping them to exploit the single market’s full potential.
Iuliu Winkler Member of the European Parliament,
First Vice-President of SME Europe
Behind every SME there is a personal story. It is often not a story of an immediate success, it is a business journey of errors and mistakes. In fact, failure is great, when you own it and start all over again until you succeed.
Angelika Winzig Member of the European Parliament,
Vice-President & Treasurer of SME Europe
Despite the recognized importance of SMEs to the EU´s economy, they still face considerable obstacles. That is why SMEs have to be at the heart of who legislates. The European Union plays a key role in finding solutions for reducing the asymmetries between enterprises in different Member States in order to introduce a fairer and more equitable competition.
Claudia Monteiro de Aguiar Member of the European Parliament,
Vice-President of SME Europe
I am committed to connecting SMEs to both European and international opportunities for financing and knowledge exchange. I worked on the review of the European Fund for Strategic Investments and advocated for its extension and for the creation of regional advisory hubs for SMEs.
Eva Maydell Member of the European Parliament,
Vice-President of SME Europe
My focus has always been on strengthening the business climate and empowering entrepreneurs. This has been paramount for me both as an entrepreneur myself, when I was mayor and now as member of the European Parliament."
Jörgen Warborn Member of the European Parliament,
Vice-President of SME Europe
Small and medium -sized enterprises are playing a leading role in our economies, therefore, European politicians should put greater emphasis on creating business-friendly environment. Supporting SMEs has always been high on the EPP’s political agenda. I am proud of being part of the team of MEP’s and enthusiastic professionals who dedicate themselves to the success of European SMEs.
Andor Deli Member of the European Parliament,
Board Member of SME Europe
Compete globally by empowering people to risk and face new challenges. Digitalisation, e-skills, internationalisation should be at the heart of who believes, works and legislates for SMEs.
Georgios Kyrtsos Member of the European Parliament,
Board Member of SME Europe
I was born into an SME family. In my break from politics I had my own business for eleven years. That is why I am dedicated to strengthen the innovative dialogue between SMEs all over Europe and in the European Parliament. SMEs are the backbone of European culture and economy.
Pernille Weiss Member of the European Parliament,
Board Member of SME Europe
SME Europe -
Small and Medium Entrepreneurs of Europe
We advise on EU legislation for small and medium enterprises. We aim at tight cooperation with all the stakeholders representing entrepreneurial sector as the entrepreneurs are given an early warning on legal development whist we receive their own evaluations on the effects of this will have on them
Legislative Initiatives
Contributing to the discourse of legislation and intervening in undesirable developments. We gather information, opinions and positions both locally in Brussels and in the member states.
Communication
Through public events for an open discourse bringing together various stakeholders of all levels: European Parliament, European Commission, associations, SMEs, field experts, etc
Mentoring Programmes
For SMEs bringing them into direct contact with the European institutions and explaining procedures of the EU
B2B Networking
By organising meeting and trips, both EU-wide and internationally
Launching Projects
By building up effective partnerships and sharing the know-how to support the first steps in cross-border cooperation
Although cashless and contactless payments are becoming increasingly important as a result of digitalization and currently due to Corona, the fear of contactless payments still remains. Especially Germans have a special relationship to cash. According to a study on “cashless payments”, 45% of consumers in Germany do not use online banking. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic cash has been suspected of transmitting the virus. Some companies have also stopped accepting cash despite the right of the customer to pay cash. Thus, has led to an increase in cashless payments. In March 2020, the quota of contactless payments was 52% and the share of cash payments by turnover is expected to fall to 32% by 2025. Indeed, the abolition of cash could make life easier, however, the state could access citizens’ savings directly through negative interest rates, for example to finance the immense costs of corona crisis management. For cutting further cost due to low or negative interest rates, the banks could be forced to pass on the comparatively high costs of cash supply to customers in the form of higher fees for cash withdrawals or by charging fees for card payments. But even though cashless payment also might bring problems in terms of security issues, the boost of cashless payments brings important benefits.
This webinar will determine the advantages of cashless payments and will highlight how digital payments has been developed under Covid-19 as well as the impact on the industries and SMEs for future trends.
EPP Group in the European ParliamentOur Chairman Manfred Weber will be leading the #EPlenary debate on the #EUCO outcome on the #NextGenerationEU & #MFF.
🗣 It's time for European Parliament to have it's say & improve this agreement for the future of Europe. 🇪🇺 Solidarity, responsibility & the rule of law are the EPP Group criteria.
✋We do not accept the political agreement on the long-term #EUBudget 2021-2027 as it stands; we are ready to engage immediately in constructive negotiations with the Council of the European Union to improve the deal reached by #EUCO leaders.
❌We deplore the cuts made to future-oriented programmes in the long-term #EUBudget and #NextGenerationEU. These cuts go against core EPP Group priorities, such as research, health, youth, climate policy, SMEs, digitalisation and strengthening security.
❗️We deeply regret that the Council significantly weakened the efforts of the European Commission and the European Parliament to uphold the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy in the framework of the #MFF and the #NextGenerationEU Budget.