Activities of David BORRELLI related to 2014/2210(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Family businesses in Europe (A8-0223/2015 - Angelika Niebler) IT
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on family businesses in Europe PDF (200 KB) DOC (137 KB)
Amendments (18)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading 1
Heading 1
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that, because of their history, family businesses are very rooted in a particular location and thus also create and maintain jobs in rural and in less attractive areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to provide the necessary infrastructure in order to ensure the competitiveness of such businesses;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that highly specialised family businesses in particular play an important role as innovators and suppliers to larger companies and that, given their long-term and intergenerational approach to business, they provide the companies they supply with material security and thereby make a significant contribution to economic growth;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that family businesses provide the most jobs in the private sector and that what is good for continuity, renewal and growth in the family business sector is therefore also good for continuity, renewal and prosperity in the EU economy as a whole;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States, with this in mind, to ensure that national rules on the taxation of inheritance and gifts and on corporate taxation do notpromote, rather than discriminateing against, equity financing which is so vital for family businesses; points out, in this connection, that in Hungary inheritance tax on business assets has been abolished;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Urges the Member States therefore to look into the debt bias of national taxation systems and assess its impact on business funding structures and investment levels; calls on the Commission to look into any taxes that discriminate against equity funding in a market that should be based on the principle of fair competition;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Stresses the need to protect women’s right to succession, on a par with men, in family businesses by promoting a culture of equal rights for men and women which fosters female entrepreneurship in family businesses, in positions of management, responsibility and leadership;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Urges the Member States to draft and implement legislative and other credit- system measures that will result in family businesses that practise good governance, and not those that do not, being given incentives and support;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that 35% of those companies that do not invest in foreign markets fail to do so because of their lack of knowledge of foreign markets; calls on the Commission and the Member States therefore to provide smaller family businesses in particular with information about opportunities for internationalisation, in particular via the internet, and ensure that they have access to a better exchange of experience and good practices; calls on the Member States, furthermore, to provide support services for businesses that intend to invest internationally, for example by providing them with information or export credit guarantees and by removing trade barriers;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission and especially the Member States therefore to improve the legal framework for the transfer of family businesses and create special financing instruments for transfers and thus prevent liquidity shortages so as to ensure the survival ofto promote training programmes for family-run businesses concerning issues such as the transfer of property, governance structures and ownership control strategies and to implement innovation processes, especially in countries in which, historically, the ‘family business’ concept less developed. It is worth noting, in this regard, how Malta has introduced the Family Business Act, which aims to support family-run businesses and prevent distress salest the transfer stage, providing specific training, and to establish a business-friendly fiscal and administrative framework;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up one-stop shops for businesses which are undergoing a transfer process, and to create special financing instruments for transfers and thus prevent liquidity shortages so as to ensure the survival of family businesses and prevent distress sales;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to frame policies to encourage and assist those who wish to become listed on the stock exchange, also by promoting specific training programmes targeted at family businesses;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Calls on the Member States to ensure that existing tax practices, which have proven to be of benefit to long-term family entrepreneurship through exemptions for corporate donations and inheritance tax, are not eroded by short-sighted reforms. In addition, access to these exemptions should be simplified and strengthened, so that all family-run businesses can benefit from them should they wish to remain a family business;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to commission ongoing studies that analyse the importance of ownership for the success and survival of a business and highlight the specific challenges facing family businesses; calls on the Commission also to collect enough data on family businesses in the various Member States both to allow a comparison of the situation of family businesses and to promote exchanges of examples of good practices;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to conduct an impact assessment of the extent to which a revin extension of the European SME definition from 2003 would be possible, moving away from purely quantitative criteria to qualitative criteria that also take into account the ownership of a company, bearing in mind the interdependence of ownership, control and management and, generally, the personal aspect of running a business, and the consequences this could have on family businesses, for example, with regard to state aid and the eligibility of such businesses;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission in the meantime, as part of its regulatory impact assessment, to establish a ‘family business test’ (for policies concerning, for example, property, governance structures or privacy) modelled on the SME test, in order to be able determine the effect of certain legal acts on family businesses in advance and thereby avoid unnecessary red tape for family businesses, focusing particularly on the combined effects of company law and private law;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to establish a permanent working group internally that specifically addresses the needs and characteristics of family businesses, regularly reports to Parliament and the Member States and acts as a contact at European level for family business for specific issues particularly relating to European legislation and access to EU funding;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to draw up, as a matter of urgency, a communication analysingon the role of family businesses with a view to boosting the competitiveness of the EU’s economy by 2020, and to produce a road map listing the measures likely to strengthen the economic environment and development of family businesses in the EU;