Brussels, 22/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 January, Eurochambres and the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) criticised the persistent credit access difficulties being experienced by companies.
During round table discussions in Brussels that brought together representatives from banks and SMEs, chaired by European Commission vice president, Günter Verheugen, the Secretary General of Eurochambres, Arnaldo Abruzzini called for the banking sector to demonstrate a responsible attitude. Despite the massive injections of public money, Abruzzini declared in a press release that, “the banks have still not translated this into tangible benefits for SMEs”. He also called on European banks to, “treat SMEs fairly”. Andrea Benassi, UEAPME Secretary General, welcomed the European response to the crisis but confirmed that with the crisis, “loans have become more expensive and burdensome, while their availability has sharply decreased. SMEs are facing difficulties not only to finance their investments, but also their day-today operations in a worrying increasing number of cases”.
Although state intervention is welcome, a lot still needs to be done to improve financing, which varies sharply from one country to the next, depending on the banking structure of the state support granted. In member states with a high proportion of banking cooperatives and savings banks, finance access difficulties are less, explained Mr Benassi, for whom these small decentralised banks are better equipped to combat shortages of liquidity because their reserves are mainly based on savings accounts. According to data gathered by the European Chambers of Commerce and Industry at a local level, Eurochambres points out that 30% of SMEs are experiencing liquidity difficulties, a quarter of them caused by banks refusing loans.
UEAPME is pleased with the new temporary state aids framework set up by the Commission at the end of December (EUROPE 9806) and calls on member states to review their rules in light of the new modalities that allow SMEs to benefit from loan guarantees. In a press statement, Mr Benassi explained that, “This is a chance that they cannot miss if they are serious about reducing the effects of the financial crisis on small enterprises. The status quo is an option Europe's economy cannot afford at this stage”. (A.B./trans/rh)