Activities of Vicky FORD related to 2012/2042(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs): competitiveness and business opportunities PDF (349 KB) DOC (245 KB)
Amendments (11)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises the incredible variety of SMEs and that proper distinctions need to be made between different business cases and needs; requests that the Commission differentiates between medium, small and micro enterprises in order to tailor regulation to different sized businesses;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges the Commission to launch the multilingual online portal foreseen in the Communication before the end of 2012, whilst recognising that SMEs are hugely diverse and that one web portal will not answer all their questions ; believes that the portal should be easily accessible and user-friendly and should not duplicate existing portals, although it may help signpost to other portals where appropriate;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is convinced that the EEN will only become the first agency of choice formaximise its value to SMEs in the EU if the functioning and governance of its constituent organisations is strengthened and awareness of its support services raised;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes making the large number of local, regional, national and European support schemes undergo a ‘mapping exercise’; believes that this exercise should include an assessment of the effectiveness of existing EU support schemes; believes that the mapping should be conducted at regular intervals and serve as basis for a benchmark and scoreboard system; recognises, however, that many support mechanisms for SMEs can be informal or through a voluntary organisation or network, especially at a local level or for more specialised sectors through "virtual" networks and would therefore discourage any mapping exercise from trying to capture all of these informal networks if the cost and/or practicality of doing so is not viable;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that the creation of joint ventures or other partnership agreements between or with SMEs should be fostered as a strategy for penetrating new markets, developing direct investment projects in third countries and taking part in invitations to tender; calls on the Commission to mobilise resources in order to promote such transnational cooperation; believes that increasing access to affordable banking services for small and micro entities in multiple jurisdictions and currencies is key to developing export growth;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Notes that clusters and networks can often be created virtually as well as physically; encourages Member States to promote the necessary tools and resources to facilitate virtual clusters and networks;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the achievement of the 2012 target on minimising administrative burdens but believes that there is a great deal more to achieve; urges the Commission to come up with a new and ambitious overall burden reduction target in accordance with the ‘'Think Small First’' principle; encourages the Commission to aim to reduce the amount of documentation required from SMEs and to ensure that SMEs are not faced with unrealistic deadlines for submitting documentation in order to facilitate the administrative process for smaller companies;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that the concept of excluding micro-enterprises by default from any proposed legislation is not an adequate tool; calls insteadmicro-enterprises should be excluded from any proposed legislation or given a lighter regime unless clear reasons for including such businesses can be demonstrated, taking due consideration of impact assessments; calls for the establishment of a micro-dimension as an inherent part of the SME test in which all available options are systematically assessed, such asincluding exclusion from the scope or individual provisions, extended transition periods or a lighter regime;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Highlights the Single Market as a key enabler in creating the best possible environment for SMEs; deplores that it still does not exist in many areas, particularly as regards its digital dimension; calls on the Commission to push for the implementation of the digital single market by 2015, to force Member States to apply existing legislation, and toshould only make new proposals where internal market legislation is still missinglegislation will reduce the costs and bureaucracy of doing business; believes that the Commission should urgently review existing legislation with an ambition to reduce bureaucracy and costs for SMEs;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Considers that the way out of the economic crisis can only be pavbe greatly facilitated by entrepreneurship and SME growth; underlines the importance of addressing the entrepreneurial potential of young people, women and migrants;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Commission to establish a roadmap on competitive SME taxation, encouraging Member States to adapt their taxation schemes with a view to lowering the non-labour wage costs for young companies and allowing such companies to keep a larger proportion of their profits for reinvestment in the company; suggests that the roadmap be based on best practices and include pilot projects;