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EMECA - Interview with Günter Verheugen
Vice President of the European Commission, Enterprise and Industry |
Trade fairs in the EMECA member centres are an ideal platform for the European Commission to reach Europe's SME community. What possibilities does the Commission have to use this platform?
The Commission uses it mainly in the context of matchmaking events, with which we foster cooperation between companies. There are regular invitations for applications, as a means of promoting participation in business cooperation exchanges by small and medium-sized enterprises. The applicants alone decide on the fairs involved, not the Commission.
The network of Euro Info Centres (EIC), which is co-financed by the Industry and Enterprise Directorate General, also supports SME participations in trade fairs, down to the very practical arrangement of appointments with potential partners. It is obvious that the trust needed for cooperation between companies can be created only through face-to-face contact.
Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the economy. What plans does the European Commission currently have to promote the SME community?
We want to put framework conditions in place to strengthen small and medium-sized businesses' growth potential. At present there are around 23 million SMEs in the EU. That means 99 % of European companies are SMEs. They are also the most important employers, with two-thirds of all jobs. That's the big difference between the EU and the USA or Japan. We can achieve more employment in Europe only if SME businesses are doing well. This is why the Commission recently proposed a new SME policy that is pragmatic, comprehensive and inclusive. We are determined to integrate the "Think Small First" principle in all Community policies. That includes better regulation. We will simplify the legislation in force and ensure that future regulations do not inhibit the SMEs' growth and innovation potential. We also intend working more closely with SME stakeholders and the Member States. The sooner dialogue begins the better, not least because business-friendly framework conditions can be put in place only in concert between the European, national and regional levels. That is why the Commission will also facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices in this area.
EMECA attaches considerable importance to instruments of economic promotion between the EU and Latin America and Asia. What plans does the Commission have for the future of programmes with third countries such as Asia-Invest, Gateway to Japan or AL-Invest?
The programmes mentioned are extremely popular, which is why we intend to continue them in the next few years. The Asia-Invest programme promotes cooperation between European and Asian businesses. Among other things, we hope this will have positive job effects and encourage the transfer of technology and mutual investment.
AL-Invest and Asia-Invest are so-called "Partenariats" assisting SMEs to set up joint ventures, conclude promotion agreements or develop business alliances. The next Partenariat takes place this year on November 9 and 10 in Chendu in China.
Gateway to Japan aims, by the end of 2007, to give some 200 European companies an opportunity to sound out new possibilities for cooperation by travelling to Japan.
What significance does eastward enlargement of the EU have for the European exhibition industry and EMECA in your opinion? What needs to be done?
Enlargement is a great success for the entire European Union, and I am confident that in a few years' time it will be obvious to everyone that political stability and high growth dynamics in central and eastern Europe are a blessing for the whole of Europe. Specifically, enlargement has raised interest in business cooperation. Companies from the new Member States are now looking more particularly for partners in the old EU states. Conversely, the business community in the old EU member countries has long since recognised the potential of the new markets and the growth opportunities they hold out. So I assume that, going forward, trade fairs will gain further in importance for business cooperation in Europe.
What view does the European Commission take of public-sector subsidisation of exhibition venues?
As you are presumably aware, European grants may not have the effect of producing a profit for the beneficiary. This question does not therefore arise for us.
(photo: © European Community)
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