PROVIDING CONCRETE SUPPORT TO SME: BUSINESSEUROPE'S SME ROADSHOW STOPS IN ROME

The event saw speeches by Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market

Brussels/Rome, 4 October 2023 – Confindustria hosted today at its headquarters in Rome the second SME Roadshow of BusinessEurope, the European business association of which Confindustria is a founding member. The discussion focused on the path of SMEs towards the dual green and digital transition, in the context of the package of support measures for SMEs recently announced by the European Commission. 

 Fabrice Le Saché, Chairman of BusinessEurope's Entrepreneurship & SME Committee, he stated:

"The Commission's proposals to simplify procedures and reduce reporting requirements for SMEs can play an important role during the green and digital transition. BusinessEurope also calls for continued political commitment from the whole Commission to further improve the SME test tool and to regularly evaluate its effectiveness. In addition, limiting payment terms in B2B transactions could help to increase the cash flow of SMEs and enable more investment in the two transitions, but the protection of contractual freedom is a key element of the current directive and must be maintained.

Giovanni Baroni, President Small Industry Confindustria, he added:

"We are proud to have hosted the second leg of the BusinessEurope SME Roadshow in Rome. It was a valuable opportunity to share proposals and define synergies on a key strategic priority for Europe: the competitiveness of SMEs. European SMEs are committed to ensuring Europe's sustainable transition. That is why it is important to continue to support them with investment incentives, including the integration of ESG criteria, and to guarantee them access to a qualified workforce. Italy has the largest number of SMEs in Europe, generating 64.3% of our national added value and almost 77% of jobs. Our SMEs need rapid regulatory simplification at EU level especially in the field of sustainability'.

BusinessEurope's full position on the package of support measures for SMEs proposed by the European Commission is available here.