Bileog eolais faoin tuairim 

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



- welcomes the European Commission's Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (2014-2020) as a commitment to recognising competitiveness as a fundamental and leading factor in ensuring sustained economic growth and more jobs in the EU;

- draws attention to the numerous existing initiatives taken by local and regional authorities in all Member States, for example local small business centres, microcredits awarded by local or regional authorities or free expert advice on setting up small businesses, which often provide the basis for a successful start-up microenterprise;

- draws attention to the needs of young entrepreneurs, for whom enterprise is often the only opportunity for professional development, and who are inclined to take a risk on an activity, often developing it throughout the European market. These entrepreneurs are thus predisposed to being competitive in global markets;

- points out that achieving global competitiveness is possible only by tackling the imperfections in the European market which make European SMEs less able to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the world. SMEs must play a bigger role in implementation of EU projects and their position should be improved in relations with major entrepreneurs which are often the general contractors of such projects. To this end, it stresses the importance of networking for SMEs.