Meeting for the presentation of the '1000 companies to inspire Europe' report of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) at the European Parliament on Tuesday 5 September, MEPs, representatives of professional organisations, investors and heads of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) together looked at ways of facilitating the growth of SMEs.
“The cases of these thousand companies today shows the best the EU has to offer”, said Xavier Rolet, Director General of the LSEG, explaining that the aim of the report is to highlight the potential of Europe's 23 million SMEs.
Presenting the pan-European initiative ELITE, which he heads up, Luca Peyrano explained that one of the obstacles to the development of SMEs is very often their lack of knowledge about investment. This programme, launched in Europe in 2014 and internationally in 2015, gives SMEs an education and mentoring service and access to an ecosystem of professionals who can advise them on the best funding for their needs. The programme features more than 600 companies in 25 countries, generating $49 billion in revenue between them and representing more than 215,000 jobs.
When asked what is preventing European SMEs from developing their full potential, the German MEP Markus Ferber (EPP) stressed the complexity of access to funding, particularly from banks, which is a “key element to promote innovation, competition and, of course, job creation”.
UK MEP Kay Swinburne (ECR) called for greater ambition and a real culture of investment. She also spoke out against the existing barriers within the European institutions themselves. “It is one thing to say that you support SMEs, but quite another to pass legislation that actually supports them”, she said.
Ramon Tremosa (ALDE, Spain) called for a harmonised framework, stressing that SMEs are the most affected by the economic policies of the member states, adding that they “learn from successes, but also mistakes made at national level”.
Financial Services Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who was also present, welcomed the report and the ELITE programme and said that the Commission would make proposals in the second half of 2018 to make it easier for SMEs to develop. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)