17 Amendments of Arba KOKALARI related to 2020/2131(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital 1 a (new)
Recital 1 a (new)
1a. Whereas SMEs are the backbone of the European economy and represent 99% of EU companies;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital 1 b (new)
Recital 1 b (new)
1b. Whereas European SMEs are currently experiencing unprecedented challenges because of the COVID-19 crisis that threatens their very existence;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital 1 c (new)
Recital 1 c (new)
1c. Whereas only 17% of SMEs have so far successfully integrated digital technology into their businesses and digitalisation is crucial for a strong economic growth and creation of jobs within the internal market;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital 1 d (new)
Recital 1 d (new)
1d. Whereas 78% of SMEs see administrative costs as one of the main barriers for their future growth;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WStrongly welcomes the SME strategy and shares the Commission’s view that SMEs, are essential to the European economy the backbone of the European economy and absolutely essential for economic growth and job creation as well as for a strong and well- functioning internal market; encourages the Commission to swiftly take further initiatives to properly support EU SMEs with the aim to address both the short- term consequences of the crisis and the long-term challenges such as the digitalisation and the transition to a more sustainable internal market;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Stresses that improved access to finance and liquidity are necessary to support SMEs and that EU funds together with national measures are necessary to allow companies to bridge liquidity gaps caused by the crisis; highlights that SMEs need support to compensate for loss in revenues, to finance fixed costs and avoid bankruptcies; calls for supporting possible access to diverse financial resources for SMEs in order for them not to be dependant only on banking system but also to consider the use of other means including private equity and crowdfunding;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls for the synchronisation of all financial tools aimed at supporting SMEs within the internal market; insists that programmes crucial for SMEs competitiveness, development and resilience to the crisis, must be included in the next Multiannual Financial Framework and guaranteeing a necessary level of funding that supports them; COVID-19 support schemes should be tailor-made to address challenges of the different sectors affected and to coordinate EU funding with national and regional initiatives; recovery funding also needs to address additional costs that SMEs in particular have to face when complying with additional safety rules during and after the crisis; the European Investment Bank must also continue to support SMEs in particular as part of the sustainable finance approach;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that SMEs should not be burdened as little as possible and encourages the Commission to use strong enforcement action to ensure that the single market benefits all businesses and consumers and to counter gold-plating and other regulatory restrictions by making use of all available tools and bodies, such as the SMEs Envoy and the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, in order to create a level playing field in cross-border business in the internal market;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls for a roadmap towards achieving a major reduction in administrative burden and bureaucracy affecting SMEs in the internal market, to boost SMEs potential for investments and speed up EU economic recovery; this should include the following elements: - supporting SMEs to operate cross- border thus fully reaping the benefits of the internal market; - encouraging scale-up; - strengthening and mainstreaming the SMEs dimension in all impact assessments through a binding SME test performed at an early stage of the impact assessment to analyse the economic impact of legislative proposals, including the compliance costs; - applying of the one-in-one-out rule in such a way that for any additional compliance cost introduced by new legislation, the corresponding amount of compliance cost is reduced; - reducing the regulatory burden through concrete targets at EU and national level (such as a reduction by 30% or cut 1000 outdated rules and regulations), in order to make a real benefit for SMEs to grow and prosper within the EU internal market;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights the crucial role of data as the lifeblood of the digital economy; supports the Commission in establishing European data spaces for trusted and secure data sharing to ramp up data flows between businesses and with governments; underlines that SMEs must be given a fair share of the added value of the data they generate and highlights that interoperability and non-discriminatory access to data, including platforms’ data, are key to ensure a digital level playing field within the internal market and to successfully deal with challenges and opportunities emerging from data sharing, data security and cybersecurity issues across the whole internal market;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Points out that there is the need to facilitate the SMEs’ uptake of Artificial Intelligence by promoting the creation of SME cross-border Alliances for AI in strategic value chains within the internal market, as well promoting investment in the next generation of standards, tools and infrastructures to store and process data; points out that it is important to ensure SMEs’ access to and awareness of ICT standards to innovate and provide more tailored digital solutions;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that start-ups represent the SMEs with the higher potential to grow in new digital sectors such as AI, IOT and robotics; stresses that also microenterprises and micro-companies, that do not dispose of sufficient resources or infrastructure for digital transformation, must have access to sufficient financial resources and be adequately supported; recalls that also traditional SMEs focused on the sustainable development of the society are threatened heavily by the crisis in several sectors and should be adequately supported;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Encourages Member States to implement the single digital gateway in an SME-friendly way by cooperating closely with regional and local authorities as well as with the other Member States and by providing easy digital access to information, procedures, and services linked to doing business across borders, including advice on public procurement and funding sources;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to simplify procurement tendering processes by using the flexibility of the EU’s newCommission’s new guidance within the EU’s public procurement framework and to enhance opportunities for SMEs in the internal market by using digital tools and platforms to expand cross-border procurement; stresses that greensustainable public procurement can make an important contribution to building a sustainable economythe transition to a more sustainable economy and that SMEs need the right support to bring forward this transition;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Regrets the fragmentation of the single market for services, preventing SMEs in the services sector from fully benefitting from the European single market; calls on the Commission to swiftly remove remaining barriers to trade affecting the service sector to unlock the full potential of the single market;.
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Points out that midcap companies that exceed the criteria of the SME definition contribute significantly to growth and job creation with in the internal market, but receive too little support; calls on the Commission to consider a revision of the current SMEs definition and propose an additional separate midcap definition ensuring that small midcaps with 250 to 499 employees in particular can be better relieved and promoted, while making sure that SMEs funding is not reduced for those SMEs meeting the current criteria.