With the company 50% of Made in Italy exports intended for the European market and over 70% of the company regulations dictated by community rules, the Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) cannot do without Europe. But what kind of Europe do SMEs really need? They tried to answer this question during a meeting, Lombardy Confindustria in collaboration with Confindustria Brescia together with Confindustria Emilia-Romagna, Confindustria Piedmont e Confindustria Veneto. The event held in Desenzano del Garda offered a space for discussion on the challenges and opportunities arising from European policies, focusing on the importance of redefining European priorities to ensure Italian SMEs the support they need to face an increasingly unstable and competitive context.
The challenges of Italian SMEs: energy, environmental and digital transitions
Italian small and medium-sized enterprises are faced with complex challenges, including the energy, environmental and digital transitions. These changes require long-term planning, adequate resources for investments and the support of European institutions. As highlighted by the Presidents of Small Industry of the various regional confederations – Alberto Biraghi (Piedmont), Giorgio Luitprandi (Lombardy), Davide Piol (Veneto) and Andrea Pizzardi (Emilia-Romagna) – SMEs are asking for less regulatory constraints and greater support by the EU to compete on the international stage.
Their request is clear: the European Union must put industry back at the centre of its agenda, creating a level playing field with major global players in terms of incentives and economic support. Their vision is that “there is no Europe without industry”.
The weight of the Northern Italian regions in the European economy
Giovanni Baroni, President of the Small Industry of Confindustria, opened the event by underlining the crucial role of four regions of Northern Italy (Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna) in the European economy. With an economic weight equal to half of the Italian GDP and two thirds of national exports – of which approximately 50% destined for other EU countries – these regions constitute the productive and manufacturing heart of Italy and of Europe.
“These 4 regions alone are worth half of the GDP of Italy, the third largest economy in the EU. We are talking about one of the productive hearts of Europe,” explains Baroni, “And it is a manufacturing and internationalized heart. Two thirds of Italian exports depart from here – 400 billion in value – half of which are directed towards other EU countries.”
Baroni highlighted that the SMEs of these regions, strongly integrated into European industrial clusters, need “greater attention from European institutions, with concrete interventions in areas such as regulatory simplification, tangible and intangible infrastructure, innovation and human capital development”. Italian SMEs must be put in a position to invest, grow and compete in a sustainable way.
Priorities for the new EU legislature
Stefan Pan, Vice President of Confindustria for the European Union, reiterated the importance of a targeted approach to competitiveness and European industrial policy. Pan urged the European Union to implement an ambitious plan to reduce bureaucratic burdens and improve authorization processes.
“Alongside the pillars of competitiveness and a European industrial policy, it will be essential in the new EU legislature to introduce a series of targeted actions to support of SMEs, especially in terms of simplification. In particular, an ambitious plan dedicated to reducing bureaucratic and reporting burdens and accelerating the authorization procedures (permitting), based on tools such as the “Competitiveness Check”, to evaluate the impact of new European regulations on companies, and the “SME Test”, for direct repercussions on small and medium-sized enterprises.
In a context of economic and social transformation, Pan stressed that the “environmental sustainability must be integrated with economic and social sustainability, recognizing the company's role as a creator of value and values for all citizens."
The meeting “Europe's strategic guidelines to support SMEs” was also attended by the Director of the Confindustria Delegation to the EU, Matthew Borsani, the MEP Massimiliano Salini and the President of the Small Industry of Confindustria Brescia, Mark Capitanio.
