Translation of "working party on small enterprises " (English → French) :

Promote a coherent, pragmatic and well coordinated approach on the European and national level towards policies aimed at unlocking the full potential of SMEs, which have already, through their success, demonstrated their ability to innovate continuously; encouraging the prospects for expansion and job creation of micro-enterprises and the self-employed; Involve on a regular basis all relevant SME stakeholders in the policy-making process, building on the recommendations of the project on stakeholder consultation[10] and, wherever relevant, integrate systematically also representative SME-organisations, into their advisory expert committees, h ...[+++]igh level working groups and other appropriate fora, building on the experience and best-practices already identified in this domain, notably through the European Charter for Small Enterprises and the Entrepreneurship Action Plan; Encourage the internationalisation of SMEs and cross-border cooperation between SMEs; Follow up on the progress of SME-related measures, including in the areas of the European Charter for Small Enterprises and report explicitly on the results in the progress reports on their national reform programmes; Support micro enterprises, including one-person-enterprises, in order to tap their potential regarding growth and employment; In adopting key Community programmes such as the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the 7th Research Framework Programme, ensure that SMEs are put in a position of fully benefiting from the programmes' added value.

The economic and social importance of forestry in rural areas tends to be underestimated, as those working in forestry often are self-employed individuals or small enterprises and their activities are commonly coupled with those of other economic sectors.

Cooperation between the Parties shall be aimed at developing and strengthening private sector small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and shall take due account of priority areas related to the Community acquis in the field of SMEs, as well as the principles enshrined in the European Charter for Small Enterprises.

4. Whereas following the work carried out by the Committee on Commerce and Distribution and the Consumer Committee (7) and the joint work carried out by these two committees, negotiations have begun at the Community level between professional organisations in the fields of distribution, tourism, small enterprises, crafts, and consumer organisations; whereas the Commission intends to continue and to intensify this dialogue;

Experience will be exchanged in six working groups: craft and small enterprises in Community policies, cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe, vocational training and further training of managers and assisting spouses, improving competitiveness, business finance and access to credit, and craft and small enterprises in border areas.

In addition, the continuity and consolidation of Community action will be ensured, in particular: - Towards those categories of SMEs which make a major contribution to the dynamism of the European economy but many of which are still unable to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the completion of the internal market: This will mainly involve identifying the needs of SMEs and developing pilot schemes, including for very small enterprises and the craft sector, the distributive trades, cooperatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations, in particular as regards trans-national information and cooperation; - By promoting ...[+++] a better financial environment for enterprises: The main task will be to facilitate access by SMEs to sources of finance (e.g. mutual guarantees, venture capital, analysis of the feasibility of second-tier markets) and to Community financial instruments (in this connection, particular attention will be paid to monitoring developments concerning the new European Investment Fund (EIF), given its interest for SMEs); - By ensuring a fuller understanding of the situation of SMEs and of the developments they have to come to terms with, as well as assessing Community measures to assist them (continued support for the work of the European SME Observatory1 and for the work to improve statistics on enterprises).