Vienna, 10/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 7 April, France asked for reflection on “common rules” to make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to have access to public contracts. “I have referred to the Small Business Act” which “works well in the United States” and allows “SMEs privileged access to public contracts,” said Thierry Breton, going on, “Out of a sense of fairness, we have to be able to defend our SMEs through this type of system”. Mr Breton acknowledged that the task would not be easy. Because of current World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, it is impossible “to have a European Small Business Act,” he said. He nonetheless called on the Commission to seize this “window of opportunity” provided by the forthcoming renegotiation of “multilateral agreements on public contracts”. Questioned by EUROPE, European Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy quoted a 2003 Commission study indicating that SMEs already obtained “more than 70%” of public contracts in Europe. An Ecofin Council will discuss national best practices which will allow SMEs to take full advantage of the internal market, especially in public contracts, announced Karl-Heinz Grasser, Chairman of the Council.
Speaking about the current economic situation in France, Mr Breton said he had had confirmation that growth was sitting somewhere between 2% and 2.5% and that the forecast was the same for the first half of 2006. Like his colleagues, he felt that at EU level, the economic situation was “better than it was at the same time last year”. On the international level, “a great deal of attention has to be paid to oil prices” and to exchange risks. Mr Breton considered that “the acceleration in concentration of Europe's major energy players” should allow the creation of companies able to bring more pressure to bear on suppliers. As far as exchange risks were concerned, “the euro is correctly valued today,” he opined, calling for close monitoring of the impact of the US budget deficit on the dollar exchange rate. He also thought the yen was below its true value in relation to the fine health of the Japanese economy.