Activities of Renate WEBER related to 2014/2210(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on family businesses in Europe
Amendments (14)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas new enterprises create on average two new jobs and expansion of existing businesses creates on average five new jobs;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas due to the failure to provide a legally binding EU-wide definition of 'family business', many of these businesses will avoid to attain the SME threshold criteria as set by the European Commission, leading to a recruitment stop and loss of employment;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas it is crucial to improve the legal climate for succession (transfer of the company within the family), notably the scope and scale of diverse approaches to inheritance and estate taxes across the EU, knowing that 480.000 companies are being transferred in the EU every year, with over 2 million jobs affected; Due to the many difficulties associated with such transfers, an estimated 150.000 businesses are forced to close each year resulting in the loss of 600.000 jobs 1 a; __________________ 1aEntrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan, COM(2012)0795
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas entrepreneurship education can make a significant contribution to improving employment perspectives for young people since they are more likely to start their own business and their companies tend to be more innovative and successful than those led by persons without entrepreneurship education background, they are also at a lower risk of being unemployed and are more often in steady employment with better and better paid jobs 3 a; __________________ 3a http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/c
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Commission to continue work on establishing a common EU definition of 'family business' by conducting an impact assessment of a possible revision of the European SME definition from 2003, with the specificities within Member States' definitions to be taken into account, in particular with regard to guaranteeing social rights, social security, pension, entitlements and health and safety at work;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Calls on the European Commission to draw up a list of common indicators based on which a family business could be described and which should enable statistics to be produced with respect to the contribution of family businesses to employment, total turnover of family businesses etc.;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Calls on Member States to join the European Commission's efforts in drawing up a list of common indicators and eventually a EU-wide definition thus enabling statistics on family businesses to better understand ownership and help design better policies facilitating access to market and financing for family businesses.
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 Subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 2 Subparagraph 1 (new)
Calls on the competent authorities at the level of Member States to foster entrepreneurship and promote "mini- enterprise" projects in schools, considering the high potential of job creation of family businesses
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Urges the European Commission to facilitate and stimulate the long-term survival of family businesses and put more emphasis on developing support and guidance to facilitate transmission and succession of family businesses;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to continue to pursue a better implementation of already existing EU recommendations 1 a with regards to the simplification of the tax and regulatory framework (reduced inheritance and gift taxes) to improve the legal climate for succession; __________________ 1a The Recommendation of 1994, the Communication of 1998 and the Lille Forum, the Good Practice Guide 2003, the 2006 Communication from the Commission: Continuity through a new beginning
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to further promote the exchange of best practices to aid family business transfers, notably in the regulatory environment;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to encourage employee financial participation in line with the growing public recognition of its merits due to the financial and economic crisis;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3e. Calls on the European Commission to actively promote gender equality in the framework of family businesses relating to entrepreneurship, skills, leadership, transmission and succession. To this end, using the existing administrative structures at the level of Member States to promote the setting up of one stop shop for female entrepreneurs. Calls also for the facilitation of child care support for "mother entrepreneurs".
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission to establish within DG Enterprise a dedicated unit to support and inform family businesses, including a one-stop point of contact in each Member State to assist with access in EU funding and EU finance, and provide business assistance.