Lo Small Business Act, approved in 2008 and presented in a our previous article, underwent a process of review culminated in the publication of the Communication n.78 of the 2011 (Review of the "Small Business Act for Europe").
This communication analyzes the state of implementation of the SBA, highlighting the most valid examples of national implementation policies, and the critical points for which a more incisive intervention by the member states is necessary. In conclusion, the review report identifies a series of action priorities in line with the Europe 2020 strategy.
In a nutshell the Commission states that all the legislative initiatives envisaged by the 2008 SBA have been implemented, with the exception of the statute for the European Private Company (SPE) for which calls are made to speed up the approval process.
The results achieved through some programs are brought to public attention, such as for example the Cip (competitiveness and innovation framework programme) which has allowed the facilitation of venture capital investments and the provision of loan guarantees to around 100.000 SMEs (90% of which are micro-enterprises), creating 1,2 average jobs per company. The commission expects some 200.000 new businesses to benefit from the program by 2013.
Other programs that are highlighted are opening a European center for SMEs in China, in order to provide support and information for European investors or exporters present in the Asian market; the "European sme weeks", with 1.500 events and 3 million participants and the "Erasmus for young enterpreneurs" programme, which provides on-the-job training for new entrepreneurs.
As for the progress in the individual princes established by the 2009 SBA, the commission devotes space to improving the business environment, access to finance and market access.
From the point of view of the improvement of the business environment, the actions taken by individual member countries have had significantly different effects. In fact, not all countries have managed to have tangible effects with reference to the reduction of the administrative burden.
La facilitating access to finance for SMEs, in the form of the provision of guarantees or microcredit programs, has been pursued by almost all states also as an anti-cyclical function as support during the economic and financial crisis.
Le market access improvement policies have been an integral part of several government programs, mainly through financial support for export promotion, support in defining market access strategies and participation in trade fairs .
Le critical issues are expressed above all with reference to the principle n.2 synthetically defined "second chance”, that is the possibility in the event of non-fraudulent bankruptcy to quickly re-enter the business world for fraudulent entrepreneurs. Only 5 states (Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Spain, United Kingdom) have implemented measures in this area.
Finally some gods registered progress in start-up procedures with reference to the cost and duration of the process. It has gone from an average of 12 days and 485 euros in 2007 to 7 days and 399 euros in 2010. According to data provided by the government, Italy allows you to launch a start-up in just 1 day but at a cost of 2.673 EUR.
The implementation policies of the 10 principles established by the SBA are analyzed in the appendix to the document; Italy is taken as an example for two of them, in particular the 3rd "think small first" and the 8th "promotion of updating and innovation".
The sba update also features a new set of actions to be put in place to respond to the challenges arising from the economic crisis and in line with the Europe 2020 strategy, namely:
· make "smart regulation" a reality for European SMEs;
· pay specific attention to the financing needs of SMEs;
· adopt a generalized approach to support SME market access;
· help SMEs contribute to a resource-efficient economy;
· promote entrepreneurship, job creation and inclusive growth.
