Brussels, 02/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Reacting to the Erkki Liikanen's presentation of the action plan to develop entrepreneurship in the EU (see above), Unice feels that this is a "positive exercise, a step in the right direction", as boosting entrepreneurship "is one of the most important success factors in the EU's economy". The European employer lobby is thus lending its seemingly unconditional support to this initiative. However, like the European Commissioner in chard of enterprise policy, Unice Secretary General Philippe de Buck believes that the action plan "can only succeed if Member States provide firm commitment to carry out concrete actions implementing it".
UEAPME, the European association representing SMEs and craft, also supported the Commission's initiative, stressing that its implementation must be speeded up if the Lisbon objectives are to be achieved. "We agree entirely with the key priorities stressed in the Plan, however these must be put into practice more quickly if the EU hopes to remain credible and achieve the Lisbon objectives in the given time. These means it needs more human and financial resources to boost entrepreneurial activity in Europe", said Hans-Werner Müller, Secretary General of the association. In this context, UEAPME has urged the EU not to wait until 2006 as per the action plan, to launch the key action entitled "reducing the complexity of work regulations" for micro enterprises. It has also asked for more binding instruments to be created so that real progress can be achieved in the fields targeted by the action plan. Lastly, UEAPME has welcomed the re-introduction of the "Inter-enterprises" programme, which aims to support events in various parts of the EU, allowing entrepreneurs to meet strategic partners.