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…

On 30th March 2017, SME EUROPE of the EPP in cooperation with CCIA (Computer & Communications Industry Association conducted a Working Breakfast on the second day of the EPP Congress in Malta. The event took place at the Intercontinental Hotel In St. Julian’s, Malta, and considered the following thematic: “Protecting privacy and enabling Innovation for Europe´s SMEs”. The speakers for this event included; Bendt Bendtsen MEP, President of SME EUROPE, Member of ITRE Committee, Paul Rübig MEP, Honorary President of SME EUROPE, Member of ITRE and Chair of STOA Committee;…

On 29th March 2017, SME EUROPE of the EPP in cooperation with CCIA (Computer & Communications Industry Association), hosted an event at the EPP Congress in Malta. The Working Breakfast was conducted in the Intercontinental Hotel in St. Julian’s and considered the following thematic: “SMEs, the Digital Single Market and the Future of Work: Jobs and Inclusive Growth in the Digital Century”. The event was attended by the following guest speakers: Bendt Bendtsen MEP, President of SME EUROPE, Former Minister for Economic and Business Affairs, Member Committee on Industry, Research…

SME Europe, the business organisation of the European People’s Party (EPP) advocating for SMEs, together with MEPs Paul Rübig and Iuliu Winkler have initiated and successfully passed a resolution on “Innovative Entrepreneurs” in the Plenary of the EPP Congress in Malta. The resolution “Innovative Entrepreneurs” stresses the importance of education and formation of the youth in an entrepreneurial spirit. In the opinion of the initiators of the resolution, a future stage in the development of the youth is represented by the acquiring of a practical understanding of how to grow…

On 28th of February 2017, SME EUROPE of the EPP in cooperation with Friends of SMEs (a member of SME Connect), hosted an event in European Parliament considering the following thematic:„How can we improve Online Payments for SMEs?“ . The speakers consisted of Dr. Paul Rübig MEP (Honorary president of SME EUROPE), Eva Maydell MEP (Vice-President of SME EUROPE), Fabienne Weibel (Public Policy Director of BlaBlaCar), Pierre Petit (Deputy Director of DG Market Infrastructure and Payments, European Central Bank), Oliver Prothmann (President of the German Federal Association of eCommerce and…