The Commission has proposed over 120 changes to simplify the rules governing EU funding for mall enterprises (SMEs), towns and regions, students, scientists and others. The key question now is whether the European Parliament and the Member States are ready to make the life of EU funds' beneficiaries easier by reducing the administrative burden.
Almost all Member States have improved their innovation performance according to the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011. However, innovation performance growth is slowing down and the EU is not closing the persistent gap with global innovation leaders US, Japan and South Korea.
The European Commission over the last years has taken a range of actions to enhance growth through the use of structural funds, to counter the crisis and ensure a quicker delivery of available funding.
Erasmus, the world's most successful student exchange programme, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Nearly three million students have benefited from a study period or work placement abroad since the creation of the Erasmus programme in 1987.
Discours prononcé par Antonio Tajani, Vice-président de la Commission européenne, responsable pour l’industrie et l’entrepreneuriat, lors de la Conférence "The Single Market Opportunity– Getting Europe’s SMEs Online", Bruxelles, le 24 janvier 2012
In 2011, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the EU27 reached a peak of 1.6 billion nights, up by 3.8% compared with 2010.
The European Commission published today a study analyzing the important role small and medium sized enterprises play in creating more and better jobs. SMEs provide a vital contribution to the European economy, being responsible for more than two thirds of the total employment in the private sectors and 85% of the net job growth.
Doing business in more than one Member State often means dealing with multiple VAT obligations which can be very burdensome and costly for companies. The proposal adopted today is a first step towards a One Stop Shop for all electronically delivered services that will benefit businesses as from 1st January 2015.
Commissioner Barnier welcomes Parliament vote on reducing accounting red tape for more than 5 million small companies.
The proposed reform aims to thoroughly modernise the existing tools and instruments on public tendering. Access to public procurement for SMEs will be increased and made easier by cutting administrative burden. There will also be strong incentives to divide tenders into lots and limit the financial capacity requirements for tenders.
Member States will be free to allow micro-entities to draw up a very simplified balance sheet and profit and loss account along the lines specified in the Directive.
The Commission proposes to allocate EUR 3.2 billion over 2014-2020 to a new Programme for the Environment and Climate Action - LIFE.
"Social enterprises are businesses that are not only seeking to include people or to share profits more fairly, but that also create jobs. They are businesses whose very ethos is grounded in responsibility and long term shared benefits. Being a social enterprise can in itself be a competitive advantage." (J-M Barroso, President of the Commission)
The European Commission is presenting a strategy to promote better access to finance for SMEs with an EU Action Plan which includes increasing financial support from the EU budget and the European Investment Bank and a proposal for a regulation setting uniform rules for the marketing of venture capital funds.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, along with Vice President Antonio Tajani, presented the first EU Women Innovators Prize in Brussels.
New guarantee facility for innovative SMEs to help them access finance from banks
The European Commission reinforce investment in businesses through financial engineering instruments.
