Informal EU summit: Focus on SMEs to achieve great things

"If the heads of state and government really want to strengthen the European economy in the long term at their informal summit, they must focus their attention on small and medium-sized enterprises, i.e. the businesses that drive Europe's economy on a daily basis: the approximately 26 million craft businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU and their employees generate a large part of Europe's economic output and are driving European goals forward in a big way. Small and medium-sized businesses make European society more resilient, improve competitiveness and contribute to social cohesion through their everyday work. 

Against this backdrop, we expect heads of state and government to send clear signals regarding the current and future work of the EU institutions. The European Union must return to a more restrained approach to legislation and show greater confidence in businesses. Regulation must not be an end in itself, but should be limited to what actually offers added value to businesses and strengthens Europe as a business location.

At the same time, we expect efforts to reduce bureaucracy to be significantly intensified. It is no longer acceptable for ill-conceived or impractical regulations to repeatedly weaken Europe as a business location. Future projects also require a clear and binding commitment to the “think small first” principle: the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses must be at the forefront of every legislative process. This is the only way to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the European economy.

Fair competition in the European single market is essential for this. In this sense, the Data Act must remain unchanged, as it ensures fair access to data for the many and counteracts isolation by the few. Furthermore, we expect products from third countries to consistently comply with European requirements for safety, occupational health and safety as well as environmental protection."