Activities of Marcel KOLAJA related to 2020/2131(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A new strategy for European SMEs (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a new strategy for European SMEs
Amendments (8)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the SME strategy and shares the Commission’s view that SMEs are essential to the European economy and central to achieving the green and digital transition of the EU economy in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal and the EU’s commitment under the Paris Agreement; Insists on sustainability to remain at the core objectives of relevant EU programmes to allow SMEs to take advantage of the green transition in terms of competitiveness, cost reduction and jobs creation; Stresses in this respect the need for increased financial budget to promote a SME-friendly environment and reiterates its position under the MFF Single Market Programme to double the allocation for COSME;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the implementation of the SME strategy should focus on supporting SMEs to help them maintain their existence, creating an enabling regulatory environment and enhanced advice and technical support while further promoting innovative and sustainable solutions; calls for facilitating as much as possible their access to finance, including easy access to R&D funds, and providing enhanced technical support, such as in form of reinforced one-stop-shops and streamlined and easily accessible regulatory and administrative procedures, with a view to accelerate and take advantage of the green and digital transition, as the COVID-19 crisis has delivered a shock to many SMEs and their role in the everyday life of Europeans; , including in form of advantageous loans or bank guarantees;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NoteInsists that SMEs should 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 restrictionreceive targeted support - i.e. technical, administrative and skills support - when implementing EU regulatory framework in order to ensure compliance with single market rules whilst administrative burden should be reduced to the minimum, including the threat of aggressive patent litigation, encourages the Commission to use strong enforcement action to ensure that the single market benefits all businesses and consumers; calls in this regard for particular attention to be given by the Commission to fighting unfair market practices within the internal market and better protection of SMEs;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Highlights that beside access to finance, SMEs encounter obstacles in terms of skills, including managerial skills, digital and sustainability related skills and knowledge; Calls for specific programmes to be financed at EU and national levels to enhance SME access to training and mentoring: Adds that particular attention should be given to promote female entrepreneurship;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Highlights the crucial role of datanon- personal data and transfer of technology from the academia to SMEs as the lifeblood of the digital economy; supports the Commission in establishing European data spaces for trusted and secure non- personal data sharing to ramp up data flows between businesses and with government, NGOS and public sector; Stresses the importance of open data and knowledge sharing via open technologies for SMEs;
Amendment 51 #
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 and by providing easy digital access to information, procedures, assistance and services linked to doing business across borders, including advice on public procurement and funding sources;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and Member States to simplify procurement tendering processes by using the flexibility of the EU’s new procurement framework and to enhance opportunities for SMEs including by using digital tools and platforms to expand national and cross- border procurement; stresses that green public procurement can make an important contribution to building a sustainable economyis a strategic tool to boost sustainable production and consumption patterns while supporting innovation from SMEs and calls for mandatory minimum targets to make systematic use of social and environmental criteria; Considers that national and European public administration is relatively risk-averse, and frequently lacks the skill set to procure innovation; emphasises that public administration should lead by example in procuring, products and services from innovative SMEs at public procurement procedure, and reminds that publicly financed code developed for the public sector should be made publicly available under free and open source software licence;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the fact that late payments account for a quarter of all SME bankruptcies in the EU; urges the Commission to swiftly equip the Late Payment Directive1 with strong monitoring and enforcement tools and to take appropriate binding measures to reinforce the current framework, so as to ensure and promote prompt payments as a norm across the single market. _______________________________ 1Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions, OJ L 48, 23.2.2011, p. 1.