16 Amendments of Anna-Michelle ASIMAKOPOULOU related to 2020/2131(INI)
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Whereas SMEs represent 99 % of all businesses in the EU, and in the past five years SMEs have created around 85 % of new jobs and provided two-thirds of the total private sector employment in the EU;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Whereas for the European Union, the average contribution to the economy by SMEs is around 56 percent;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Whereas the COVID-19 virus and following lockdowns has caused profound disruptions to global supply chains and trade;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1 e. Whereas trade and investment barriers, administrative costs and bureaucracy affect SMEs disproportionally due to their size and limited resources to overcome them, SMEs benefit more from rule-based trade opening than large companies;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1 f. Whereas the purpose of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) and the Think Small First principle is to increase competitiveness and support entrepreneurship;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1 g. Whereas only 9 % of EU SMEs protect their intellectual property rights (IPR), partly due to differing national legislation within the EU;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1 h. Whereas already before COVID- 19, European competitiveness was lagging behind other developed economies, threatening Europe’s potential to generate wealth and prosperity;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1 i. Stresses that SMEs need clear, consistent and predictable legislation in order to grow and create jobs;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Encourages the Commission to fully support SMEs in overcoming all barriers that prevent their access to third- country markets; requests the inclusion of an SME chapter in every trade agreement as done in the EU-Japan agreement and the modernised Agreement with Mexico, and that they should be included when revising existing FTAs; underlines the need for the effective enforcement of trade agreements, especially for SMEs, as a priority task of the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls for a particular focus on SMEs in the current EU trade policy review in order to create better opportunities for SMEs; asks the Commission to make the "Think Small First" principle a vocal point of European trade policy to spur growth and development of SMEs;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Reiterates its call on the Commission to monitor the effects of its trade policy on SMEs, for example by ensuring a good representation of SMEs in the public consultation process in order to make sure that their views are properly and adequately collected, analysed and represented in the impact assessments;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6 c. Calls on the Commission, Member States and local governments to make business climate and competitiveness paramount priorities on their political agendas, and foster an entrepreneurial culture throughout the single market, where innovation, problem solving, risk taking, job creation and contributing to the prosperity of the EU is rewarded;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6 d. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to introduce a "one in - one out" principle when creating new laws as a first step to stem the tide of new regulation and cut red tape, but reminds that it merely maintains status quo, which is not a sufficient ambition; calls also for more clarity on how the Commission intends integrate this principle in terms of trade policy;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)
Paragraph 6 e (new)
6 e. Calls on the Commission to present a roadmap towards achieving a reduction of at least 30 % of outdated rules and regulations affecting SMEs, in order to decrease administrative burdens and cost pressure, promote competitiveness and make a real impact for SMEs to grow and prosper within the EU;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)
Paragraph 6 f (new)
6 f. Stresses the importance of IPR strategies for SMEs in order for them to protect their R&D investments and collect growth capital; calls therefore for a reinforcement of cross-border cooperation on IPR, for example through a wide territorial application of the new Unitary Patent (UP)/ Unitary Patent Court (UPC) framework throughout the EU, which could increase legal certainty and lower cost for SMEs to ensure IPR and operate on a European level;