On Tuesday February the 18th 2014 SME Europe of the EPP organized a Working Breakfast on “Modern parcel services for SMEs”

The event was moderated and hosted by Martin KASTLER MEP, rapporteur on Parcel Services and Ecommerce, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

The Welcome and opening speech was held by Honorary President of SME Europe Dr. Paul RÜBIG MEP, Member of Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He welcomed Elisabetta Gardini, MEP, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, new elected Board member of SME Europe. Stating that cross border Ecommerce increased by 20% in the last year and will quadruple over the next years, he thinks that, cross country parcel service, which is connecting all 28 EU member-states, is one of the pillars of the EU. Taking into account that charges for a parcel crossing a border, which is very often a shorter distance than a delivery within a country, are 3 to 5 times higher than charges for a domestic delivery, e-commerce and cross border parcel service should be one of the top 5 priorities of the EU. (read more…)

On Wednesday, the February 12th 2014 the SME Europe of the EPP organized a Working Breakfast ”Can We Finally Achieve Roaming Free Europe? Open discussion on #Connected Continent ”.

The Welcome and Moderation was given by the Chairwoman of SME Europe’s Telecom Working Group Roza Gräfin von THUN und HOHENSTEIN MEP, Member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. In her welcoming address she stated, that a Europe without borders also means a roaming free Europe. “The great ideas behind the European Union will be lost, if they do not transfer into concrete facts, like a functioning internal market on roaming.”

In the Keynote address by Pilar del CASTILLO MEP, Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Rapporteur on #Connected Continent discussed the Connected Continent proposal of the Commission with a focus on roaming. She emphasized the proposals new method of voluntary practices, which allow operators to practically abolish roaming fees and the set deadline of December 2015. Furthermore she stated that having also the Roaming for data transfers explicitly included in the proposal is a further step forward. For SMEs she pointed out the importance to use the freedom of movement and that no obstacles through roaming should be in the way of that. (read more…)

On Wednesday, the 22nd of January 2014 the SME Europe of the EPP organized an event on ”EPP Policy for SMEs – Building Strong and Dynamic Small Businesses”.

A quick introduction was given by SME Europe President and Co-founder Nadezhda NEYNSKY MEP, EP Committee on Budgets. In her opening statement NEYNSKY pointed out, that the only way out of the current economic crisis are strong SMEs that provide sustainable growth as an answer to youth unemployment.

The Vice-President of SME Europe Pablo ZALBA BIDEGAIN MEP elaborated on the issue of education, which, as he explained, is one of the most important factor for innovation and therefore the essential ingredient for sustainable growth. To be competitive amongst others and to overcome challenges in multinational markets SMEs need highly qualified Entrepreneurs and employees.
(read more…)

On Tuesday, 17th of December 2013 the SME Europe of the European People´s Party (EPP) organized a Working Lunch on „ ENERGIE – Neue ganzheitliche Ansätze für den Binnenmarkt und die Infrastruktur”.

The discussion was opened by Dr. Paul Rübig MEP, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Honorary President of SME Europe, who introduced the participants and the subject of the Working Lunch.

The event continued with the keynote speech delivered by Markus SCHULTE Member of Cabinet of EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger. He highlighted sustainable energy is no longer seen as a luxury. It is not restricted to minor, niche groups and the sustainability is paramount for business. This all the more important in today’s financial situation. The economic crisis has taken its toll on finance for energy projects. Public funding cuts have removed support for innovation and renewable energy. Cuts in jobs and wages have taken the public’s mind off energy and climate challenges. (read more…)

On Thursday, 5th of November 2013 the SME Europe of the European People´s Party (EPP) organized an event on “How safe are Trademarks in the EU? SMEs Perspectives for an Open Debate”.

The discussion was opened by Salvador SEDÓ I ALABART MEP, EP Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Vice-President of SME Europe of the EPP, who introduced the participants and the subject of the Working Breakfast. He stressed the importance for the preservation of Trademark Rights in the European Union, with an emphasis on the challenges of SMEs. Hence, The SME´s are often described as being in a disadvantage where the protection of their trademark rights are concerned. Large companies like Google prevent trademark erosion by aggressively fighting against it with large legal teams around the globe, while SMEs usually do not have a sufficient budget and staff to do that. The laws of the European Union are not necessarily inadequate, but must be adapted to the situation of SMEs to secure the competitive advantage of the European Union in the future. (read more…)