Brussels, 09/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - "I am ready to support any measure that motivates the personnel and which provides staff training. This is part of Europe's competitiveness", said the Commissioner responsible for company policy, Erkki Liikanen during the trade union conference on "SMEs and Social Dialogue" (see EUROPE of 5 May, p.14). Drawing from over twenty years of experience in cooperating with trade unions, Erkki Liikanen urged for "trade unions and small enterprise to reach close partnership. It is important to strengthen the social engagement of which the EU is the bearer". Mr Liikanen mainly stressed the need to "promote the company's social responsibility" and develop exhaustive social dialogue with social partners. Noting that the new economy is founded on the employers' spirit of initiative, Mr Liikanen insisted on the role that the SMEs can play and affirmed that all companies should pay greater attention to their "human capital". In his view, the "presence of trade unions on the ground would be one of the ways to remedy the troubles of the SMEs (…) Social dialogue must be guaranteed in the same way as conventional negotiation".