Conference on the European Charter for Small Enterprises

Key-note speakers Günter Verheugen, Vice-president of the European Commission and State Secretary Hartmut Schauerte, from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology will give an overview on the support that SMEs can count upon at EU level for the time to come.

Business organisations and policy makers from 44 countries will contribute with their experiences on the most efficient ways to help SMEs growing.

The conference is organised by the European Commission and the German presidency.

Programme

Programme brochure

Summary Report and Speakers' Presentations

• Conference Summary Report
• List of participants

Monday 4 June

• Opening address
  Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Enterprise and Industry
• Opening address
  Otto Kentzler, President, German Confederation of Skilled Crafts, ZDH
• Opening address
  Arndt G. Kirchhoff, Chairman of the Entrepreneurship and SME committee, BUSINESSEUROPE

Workshop 1 - Cheaper and faster Start-up, especially One-Stop-Shops

• The Business start-up organiser tool
  Gavin Dollin, Department of Trade & Industry, Small Business Service, United Kingdom
• STARTER-CENTER Karlsruhe
  Walter Bantleon, Chamber of Crafts Karlsruhe, Germany
• Services for easier and faster start-up of SMEs
  Patiris Ioannis, Ministry of Development, Greece
• Implementation of support services for SMEs on local level
  Alenka Hren, Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investment, Slovenia
• Attiva
  Fritz Sprung, ALMI Företagspartner AB, Sweden

Workshop 2 - SME Policy at Regional Level

• The Y4 initiative
  Petri Palviainen, Y4, Finland Winner of the Grand Jury prize of the European Enterprise Awards
• The Charter in a regional policy context
  Eddy Hartog, Head of Unit, Regional Policy Directorate-General, European Commission
• Steiermark - SME-region of excellence
  Gerd Gratzer, Steierm?kische Landesregierung, Austria
• 1,2,3, Go Entrepreneurship initiative
  Robert Dennewald, Eurob?on SA, Luxembourg
• Benefits for SMEs through the Charter implementation in the Region Alto Adige
  Landesrat Werner Frick, regional minister, Alto Adige, Italy
• Benefits for SMEs through the Charter implementation in Tirol
  Landesrat Mag. Hannes Bodner, regional minister, Tirol, Austria

Workshop 3 - Taxation

• Simplified income taxation for micro enterprises
  Gheorghita Toma, Ministry of Public Finance, Romania
• Tax exemption for invested profits
  Bernadette Gierlinger, Ministry of Finance, Austria
• Taxation of personally owned enterprises as limited liability companies
  Jakob Smith, Ministry of Taxation, Denmark
• Electronic Tax Declaration System
  Guntis Urtans, JSC "DATI EXIGEN GROUP", Latvia
• Tax accounting cooperatives
  Michel Compoint, Centre de Gestion pour les très petites entreprises, Colmar, France

Tuesday 5 June

• The benefits of the Charter and the Lisbon exercise for European SMEs
  Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary General, Eurochambers
• Progress of Reforms in the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs
  Maive Rute, Director, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General, European Commission

Workshop 4 - Other Charter areas

• Emprendemos Juntos
  Fátima Mínguez, General Direction of SME policy, Spain
• Innovationmanagement
  Ildikó Polgár Májer, Central Hungarian Innovation Centre, Hungary
• Simplified and customer-oriented administrative service delivery
  Lilia Ivanova, Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform, Bulgaria
• Kinder Business Week
  Nick Angermayr, MediaGuide, Austria
• "Austria service" - one-stop-shop for administrative formalities for Upper Bavarian craft companies doing business in Austria
  Barbara Peinel, Chamber of Crafts München, Germany

Workshop 5 - Innovative Instruments of Financing SMEs

• Innovative use of ESF funds in a micro-finance instrument
  Dr. Norbert Irsch, Network of European Financial Institutions for SMEs (NEFI)
• Tailor-made Financing Instruments for Start-ups and Young Enterprises
  Johannes Velling, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany
• Seed Finance
  Vesa Vanhanen, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission
• Supporting High-Tech-SMEs
  Jan Dexel, Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands
• Micro-Finance
  Dariusz Szewczyk, Polish agency for enterprise development, Poland

Workshop 6 - Improving Online Access (E-Government)

• E-government programme of the Belgian social sector for small or medium-sized enterprises
  Frank Robben, Crossroads Bank for Social Security, Belgium
• Core companies Online
  Theresa Fitzpatrick, Companies Registration Office, Irish Republic
• Solution for electronic applications
  Gro Dyrnes, Innovation Norway, Norway
• Company Certificates
  Tarvi Martens, Certification Centre, Estonia
• Submission of Statistical Data in Electronic Format
  Vygandas Norkus, Department of Statistics, Lithuania