On 11th July 2017, SME EUROPE in cooperation with the EPP Group, hosted a Working Breakfast event in the European Parliament considering the following thematic: “Communication on Standard Essential Patents: What is the impact for Innovation and Competition for Start-Ups and SMEs?”. The event featured the following speakers: Paul Ruebig MEP, Honorary President of SME Europe and Vice-Chairman of STOA, Member of ITRE; Christian Ehler MEP, Member of ITRE; Michael Koenig, Acting Head of Unit of Intellectual Property, Fight against Counterfeiting, DG GROW, European Commission; Sangwoo Kim, President Corporate Affairs…

On June 27th, SME Europe organized a Working Dinner on the topic of The Future of Mobility: Solutions for Smart Cities in Europe. Bendt Bendtsen MEP, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, President of SME Europe, opened the event with a welcome speech where he emphasized the importance of the mobility and digitalisation in order to be a more successful and competitive region. Also, for SMEs and for the societies as whole. Paul Rubig MEP, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Chairman of Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA), Honorary…

The Working Breakfast held on June 29th 2017, GEOBLOCKING and SMEs – How to use the full potential of Single Market, was hosted by MEP Roza Gräfin von Thun und HOHENSTEIN. She opened and moderated the discussion. During her speech, she explained what Geo-blocking is and its impact on businesses and consumers, its negative side and how it can be dealt with. She underlined that it is essential to have an open market where consumers can access to better options. She mentioned that EU institutions are working in order to…

On 27th June, SME EUROPE in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Enterprise Europe Network and the EPP conducted a Working Breakfast on: “Serbia: Driving Economic Force for the Western Balkans: How to integrate in the internal market?”. The event included the following speakers: Andor DELI MEP, Co-opted Board Member SME Europe, Delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee; H.E. Ana HRUSTANOVIC, Ambassador of Serbia to the European Union; Zdravko ILIC, Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia Representative Office in…

On 8th June 2017, SME EUROPE in cooperation with EPP Group, hosted a Working Lunch event in the European Parliament considering the following thematic: “Let’s talk about EU Tourism – European Tourism Associations” The event featured the following speakers: Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar MEP, Member of the Committee on Budgets; Iulia Niculica, Secretariat, European Tourism Manifesto for Growth and Jobs; Teodora Marinska, Head of Finance and Public Affairs at the European Travel Commission; Morgan Foulkes, Deputy Director General, Airports Council International Europe; Christian de Barrin, Chief Executive Officer at Hotrec…

On 1st June 2017, SME EUROPE in cooperation with Friends of SMEs and the European People’s Party, hosted a Working Breakfast event in the European Parliament considering the following thematic: “Copyright reform – New benefits or more obstacles for Europe’s startups and SMEs?” The event featured the following speakers: Inese Vaidere MEP, Member of the Committee on Budgets; Horst Heitz, Executive Director of SME EUROPE; Lenard Koschwitz, Director of Public Affairs at Allied for Startups; Jack Mckeivor, Director of Friends of SMEs (on behalf of Therese Comodini Cachia MEP); Axel…

On 30th May 2017, SME EUROPE in cooperation with The European People’s Party, EWABA (European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuels Association), and MVaK (Mittelstandsverband abfallbasierter Kraftstoffe) hosted an event considering the following thematic: “The revision of the Renewable Energy Directive: an advanced biofuels perspective”. The participants involved the following speakers featured on the programme: Bendt BENDTSEN MEP, President of SME EUROPE, Member of Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Rapporteur for Energy Performance of Buildings; Ivan ŠTEFANEC MEP, Vice-President of SME Europe, Member of Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, Member…

On 25th April 2017 SME EUROPE of the EPP in cooperation with Friends of SMEs and Google conducted a Working Lunch considering the following topic: “Future growth and innovation of European SMEs in the age of Artificial Intelligence”. The Speakers of the event included Dr. Paul Rübig MEP, Honorary President of SME EUROPE, Member of ITRE and Chair of STOA Committee , Dr. Nicklas Lundblad, Professor of Innovation at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations for Europe, Middle East and Africa…

On 25th of April, the Hanns Seidel Foundation organized a round table on perspectives of the Bavarian-Czech Economic Cooperation, in cooperation with SME Europe of the EPP, in the European Parliament. The invited speakers were: MEP Dess, Chairman of the SME Working Group on Agricultural Policy and Coordinator of the EPP Group in the Committee on Agriculture of the European Parliament; MEP Šojdrová CULT, Dr. Ehm, Head of the Brussels Office, Hanns Seidel Foundation, Dr. Heitz, Executive Director SME Europe; Dr. Hopp, Member of the Bavarian parliament, Miss Spekhorstová, chairman…