Two years after the Small Business Act entered into force the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises has identified a number of measures that need to be taken by the EU and national policy makers if the SBA is going to have any teeth.

European entrepreneurs and business representatives made it clear that current measures have failed to remove the obstacles to SMEs growth, job creation and innovation in Europe and outlined ten recommendations in three priority areas.

There is an urgent need to create a more SME-friendly regulatory environment by carefully assessing the impact of any new regulatory or legislative measures on SMEs. They also stressed that SMEs needed better access to markets, which is still hindered by excessive red tape and the lack of harmonisation in the EU internal market. They also called for initiatives to open up public procurement to SMEs.

Despite recent initiatives taken by the EU, in particular through the European Investment Bank and EU Research Framework Programmes, access to finance remains difficult. The new EU regulatory measures for banks should be defined in a balanced way, so that they do not hinder SMEs access to capital. The potentially significant cumulative effect of the wide range of measures on the table should also be taken into account, said participants in the event.

1.    Reform of financial markets – a balanced approach should be taken to the definition of the new EU regulatory provisions for banks (e.g. on capital requirements), keeping in mind that disproportionate measures would negatively impact on the cost and availability of capital for SMEs and the potentially significant cumulative effect of the many measures currently on the table.

2.    Availability of credit – credit guarantee instruments, both public and private, should be further developed, resulting in an efficient and widely available guarantee system.

3.    Develop alternative sources of SME finance –As the lending capacity of banks willremain impaired in the medium term, initiatives must be taken to increase the access of SMEs to capital markets and to devise better tax incentives for investors.

4.    Public schemes – Public SME finance schemes should be boosted at both national and European level in order to address identified market failures and streamlined to improve accessibility. Particular attention should be paid to supporting the wide-spread problem of financing the first expansion of innovative companies.

5.    Improve impact assessments in policymaking - Systematic and independent assessment of the impact (cost-benefit) of all policy proposals on SMEs must be ensured, taking into account different sub-categories within this definition. Consultation of SME representatives on the first draft of the impact assessment will contribute to this process.

6.    Systematic introduction and application of the “only once” principle - Public authorities have to ensure that enterprises are not be obliged to provide again information that the authorities have already received by another route, and this at all levels (European, national, regional, local).

7.    Keeping SMEs in mind during policy making-The “think small first” principle means that the starting point for all legislation should be the smallest enterprises, instead of making exemptions for them or excluding them. It should be applied more consistently throughout the regulatory and implementation process at all levels: European, national, regional and local.

8.    Electronic interoperability –The Commission and member states must together strive to enhance electronic interoperability in the internal market, in particular delivering on the Single Market Act proposal for a decision by 2012 to ensure mutual recognition of e-identification and e-authentication across the EU and the revision in 2011 of the Directive on electronic signatures.

9.    European Private Company Statute–The Council, with renewed political support from the European Commission, must intensify its efforts to resolve the impasse on the European Private Company Statute (SPE), the only legislative proposal contained in the SBA not to have been agreed. The adoption of the EU patent must also be a priority: it is crucial for the competitiveness of European companies.

10.  Internationalisation of SMEs– The European Commission is strongly encouraged to adopt a more coherent strategy towards the internationalisation of SMEs, based on the principles of complementarity, sustainability and public private partnership.