The key role recognized by the European institutions to SMEs has been translated from a regulatory point of view into a series of initiatives to support the development and internationalization of SMEs. The most important of which is represented by the adoption of the "Small Business Act” (Sba) promoted by the European Council in March 2008.
In the intentions of the promoters, the Sba "aims to improve the global policy approach to entrepreneurship, to irreversibly anchor the principle of thinking small first in decision-making processes and to promote the growth of SMEs by helping them to address the problems that continue to hinder their development.
The program is inspired by 10 guiding principles for the formulation of community and state policies:
1. Create an environment in which entrepreneurs and family businesses can thrive and that is rewarding for the entrepreneurial spirit;
2. To ensure that honest entrepreneurs who have experienced insolvency quickly get a second chance;
3. Formulate rules that conform to the “Think Small First” principle;
4. Making public administrations permeable to the needs of SMEs;
5. Tailoring public policy intervention to the needs of SMEs: facilitating SME participation in public procurement and making better use of the possibilities of state aid for SMEs;
6. Facilitate the access of SMEs to credit and develop a legal and economic context that favors the punctuality of payments in commercial transactions;
7. Helping SMEs to benefit from the opportunities offered by the single market;
8. Promote the updating of skills in SMEs and all forms of innovation;
9. Enable SMEs to transform environmental challenges into opportunities;
10. Encourage and support SMEs to benefit from market growth.
Alongside these principles are inserted some proposals inspired by the principle "think small first", in particular:
· The General Block Exemption Regulation on State Aids – GBER;
· The regulation defining the statute of the European private company (SPE);
· The directive on reduced VAT rates;
· A legislative proposal aimed at updating, simplifying and harmonizing the current regulations on VAT invoicing, and alleviating the burden on businesses;
· An amendment to the late payment directive 200/35/EC to ensure that SMEs are paid on time in all commercial transactions.
In 2011 one proceeded assessment of the implementation status of the SBA and its update. For the analysis of the update, please refer to a future article.
For a more in-depth discussion of the individual points, please refer to the text of the SBA proposed in the annex.
