21/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - Luc Hendrickx, UEAPME director welcomed the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) and highlighted the fact that enterprise in these two countries should be given support. He declared that “Bulgaria and Romania can be a real added value for the European Union as a whole”. Hendrickx underlined that at a national level “the legal and political framework for SMEs and SME representative organisations must be strengthened” and that at a European level, “assistance measures for the adoption of the acquis communautaire in Bulgaria and Romania are needed” for helping both the government and SME representatives.