Brussels, 18/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Small Business Alliance (ESBA) has welcomed 'the first action undertaken by the European Commission to withdraw some of the pending regulatory proposals. This is finally a good signal towards all those in the public and private sector who sought to regulate or asked for regulation without (sic) proper impact assessment and cost-efficiency analysis.' In a press release, ESBA President Brian A. Prime said: 'ESBA will continue to ask for an independent EU regulatory agency to scan future EU regulation but also to review proper implementation and enforcement of EU regulations.' ESBA representative in Brussels, Frederic Soudain, explained that the transposition of EU legislation is a major problem for SMEs. Although the Single Market Observatory, which collected information on transposition, reports improvements, there are still many problems with implementation, he said, and apparent national differences can cause competitive problems. This is why the EBSA is calling for an independent EU regulatory agency to ensure both the independence and the quality of impact assessments and more closely monitor implementation of EU rules.
Besides EU regulation, the ESBA is now starting an EU-wide campaign against 'anti SME soft rules': 'the current focus on better regulation should not hide a problem which is probably even more important for SMEs and the self-employed, namely soft rules preventing the small companies from fair access to trade.'
'This is patricianly true in the public procurement markets across the EU,' added Brian A. Prime. 'Tendering procedures as well as contractual conditions are increasingly becoming so cumbersome that many SMEs cannot afford to participate in public contracts or public projects.' The EBSA will be scanning these 'EU anti-SME soft rules' and highlighting them on its website to get the Commission to take concrete measures to combat anti-SME legislation.