16 Amendments of Jordi CAÑAS related to 2020/2131(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Considers that the SME strategy should go hand in hand with the European Industrial Strategy, in order to facilitate the adoption of new policy measures which promote their internationalisation and ensures their full involvement, while fostering economic growth and job creation within the Single Market;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes the recent amendment of the State Aid Temporary Framework enabling Member States to provide public support to all micro and small companies; expresses its concern, however, about the uneven distribution of state aid and Member States’ access to liquidity and fiscal space, which is likely to result in disruptions in the Single Market and thus create inequalities as regards the ability to preserve domestic jobs;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises the support of the State Aid Temporary Framework in the context of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and welcomes its recent amendment enabling Member States to provide public support to all micro and small companies; expresses its concern about the uneven distribution of state aid and Member States’ access to liquidity and fiscal space, which is likely to result in distortions to competition, creating unfair competitive advantages and possible breakdowns in the Single Market;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that the EU recovery instruments and the relevant MFF programmes should complement national schemes, supporting SMEs, particularly in the sectors most affected by the pandemic, and striving to ensure the EU’s industrial independencestrategic autonomy and global leadership;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls for a European horizontal strategy for SME recovery in order to support them by reducing red tape, improving access to finance and by fostering investments in strategic value chains, start-ups and micro SMEs in line with the European Green Deal;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses, however, that equal access to investment remains a challenge in the EU, considering the greater difficulties of access to finance in some Member States, thus leading to discrepancies in competitiveness between SMEs in the Single Market; calls on the Commission to address this financial access gap and ensure that SMEs compete on a level playing field;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Highlights that women remain under-represented across occupation and management levels1a and welcomes the European Commission’s initiatives with a particular focus on empowering women and improving gender balance within the European SMEs ecosystem; __________________ 1a The Missing Entrepreneurs 2019, Policies for inclusive entrepreneurship, OECD, https://www.oecd- ilibrary.org/sites/d23b6508- en/index.html?itemId=/content/componen t/d23b6508-en
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for the systematic application of health and safety measures in the workplace, and welcomes the guidelines of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) on adapting workplaces and protecting workers in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic; considers that such guidelines should be further developed in order to provide a coordinated and efficient response in case of future cross-border threats to public health; encourages Member States to raise awareness of Occupational Safety and Health and to take all necessary actions to ensure the safety and health of workers, including through strengthening inspections, where and when necessary;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to urgently support businesses, especially SMEs, by reducing unnecessary administrative burdens and by facilitating their access to liquidity; welcomes in this respect the temporary SURE initiative, proposed by the Commission; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that alternative financing options, such as credit unions and private equity investors are available to SMEs; calls for the establishment of capacity building programmes, within the Recovery plan, aimed at helping SMEs, particularly micro SMEs to readjust their businesses to COVID-19 affected markets;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Highlights the importance for SMEs of achieving the transition to digitalisation, as well as of considering the employment opportunities and benefits associated, such as flexible patterns of work organisation, enhanced opportunities for people with disabilities and a better work-life balance; calls on the European Commission to put forward a European Teleworking Agenda with a view to developing a legislative framework laying down clear minimum standards and conditions for remote work across the EU, while supporting European SMEs’ productivity and competitiveness;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Believes that the digitalisation provides an abundance of opportunities for SMEs and can significantly improve their productivity, business management and resilience; considers that an ambitious timetable is needed to harmonise digital aspects of the single market and foster e-Government solutions; calls for standardisation and digitalisation of procedures and forms which will help SMEs in the long-term;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to ensure complementarity between the objectives of the European SMEs Strategy, the new Circular Economy Action Plan, the updated Skills Agenda for Europe and the European Industrial Strategy, in order to secure the subsistence and development of SMEs during the COVID-19 crisis and thereby counter the rising unemployment rates, particularly in those sectors seriously impacted such as the tourism and hospitality industries;
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Believes that EU’s entrepreneurs will be at the heart of the recovery process and stresses that promoting entrepreneurship is an important driver for social inclusion, smart, sustainable and inclusive economic growth and competitiveness; calls on the Commission and the Member States to foster and support the development of entrepreneurial spirit and skills and to facilitate the establishment of new business models for SMEs;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Underlines the importance of SME friendly legislative environment; calls on the Commission for a strict application of the ‘SME test’, which would help implementing the important ‘Think Small Principle’; supports Commission’s plans to appoint an EU SME envoy to address and facilitate SMEs related issues and solutions;
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Emphasises the need to support social and solidarity-based enterprises by creating a favourable environment for their development; stresses that the Commission and Member States should promote the establishment of social and solidarity-based enterprises;