Brussels, 23/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - The first own initiative report on SMEs from the new European Parliament looks at opportunities from green growth.
Philippe De Backer MEP (ALDE, Belgium) presented his draft report on Monday 23 February to the EP industry and energy committee (ITRE). The document responds to the Green Action Plan for SMEs, presented last July by the European Commission.
The rapporteur notes that green growth has huge potential for European SMEs but the conditions must be in place if they are to benefit from it. He refers to the need to encourage the spirit of enterprise, the definition of transparent rules that are conducive to innovation, the need to diversify access to funding and significantly increase opportunities for sharing knowledge. In his presentation, De Backer highlights the need for smart regulation. In his report, he underlines the importance of presenting technologically neutral legislation that promotes innovation. He also calls on member states not to use subsidies that distort the market but, rather, grant public funding for promoting innovation.
The different groups gave a warm welcome to the own initiative, with the somewhat ironic exception of the Greens because none of their representatives attended. (Marie-Pauline Desset)