Brussels, 27/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU umbrella group of craft and small and medium-sized enterprises, UEAPME, believes that European small businesses need a growth pact to be adopted at the European summit on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 June, as they make clear in a letter to the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. At the May 2012 European summit, Van Rompuy said that economic growth and budget consolidation were two sides of the same coin.
Budget consolidation and the structural reforms being carried out by the member states will not in themselves be enough to restore sustainable growth to the economy or stabilise the financial markets, says UEAPME. It recommends a four-pronged approach: implementing the 25-member state fiscal compact, whose prime objective should be to restore confidence on the markets by reducing the burden on the budget created by high interest rates on public debt; continuing with structural reforms as a precondition for budget consolidation; introducing crucial growth stimulus measures; and establishing reliable governance to ensure the first three approaches are properly implemented. (EL/transl.fl)