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 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…)

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 PART I: “Business to Business” Workshop (at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation)

The 28th of November the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Belgian-German Club and SME Europe invited high level speakers to attend a workshop on “Croatia – the new player in the EU Internal Market”.

After opening remarks from Dr. Stefan Gerold German Ambassador H.E. Dr. Eckart Cuntz said that Croatia is a sign of hope for the western Balkan states. He congratulated Croatia but also emphasized this is just a further step in moving into Europe. Many challenges like entering the European market successfully are still to be faced. He thinks that SMEs are the right topic for such a meeting since they are the ones creating jobs and deliver the success stories in export. (read more…)

On Wednesday, 27th of November 2013 the SME Europe of the European People´s Party (EPP) organized an event “A success story of the European SME Legislation” with a book presentation “Entrepreneurs Need Freedom” by Dr. Paul RÜBIG MEP, EP Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and SME Europe Honorary President.

Dr. Paul RÜBIG MEP, EP Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and SME Europe Honorary President welcomed the participants and opened the event. In his opening Dr. Paul RÜBIG MEP stated SMEs are synonym of dynamism, creativity and innovation, that is, entrepreneurship. Both in times of crisis and prosperity, our task as legislators is to generate and preserve an environment that fosters their creation and allows them to take advantage of the opportunities attached to transform them into catalysts of growth and employment. (read more…)

Today, Tuesday the 26th of November, the SME Europe of the EPP, together with EuroCommerce and SME Global, organized a Working Breakfast on the topic “WTO meeting in Bali” and its consequences for SMEs. Several high level speakers shared their opinions, insights and up to date information.

Dr. Paul Rübig MEP, Member of EP Committee on Industry Research and Energy and Honorary President of SME Europe, emphasized that trade is playing a significant role to overcome the crisis and the importance of the inclusion of members of the parliament in the WTO process as it destroys the information monopoly the governments usually have since the parliamentarians are often from the opposition. More distribution of power leads to better results. He hopes to bring back a “Christmas present” in the form of millions of new jobs from the trade negotiations in Bali. (read more…)