COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 30 June 1988 on the improvement of the business environment and action to promote the development of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises in the Community (88/C 197/04)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to the Council resolution of 3 November 1986 on the action programme on small and medium-sized enterprises and its declaration on reducing the administrative burden on business as well as the Council resolution of 22 December 1986 on an action programme on employment and growth, Having regard to the following Commission communications:

- second report on the realization of the objectives of the Community action programme for small and medium-sized enterprises,

- Commission communication on strengthening cooperation between European firms:

a response to the 1992 internal market deadline,

- Commission communication on the evaluation of the Euro Info Centres, extension of the project,

- Commission communication on simplifying administrative procedures within the Community,-Commission communication on an enterprise policy for the Community, acknowledging that the completion of the internal market represents at the same time a major opportunity and a challenge for businesses and that small and medium-sized enterprises will be increasingly drawn into the process of integration of the European economies;

acknowledging that the development of the spirit of enterprise and the creation of new firms in the Community must be encouraged;

acknowledging that the development of small and medium-sized enterprises is of great importance in increasing the competitiveness of the European economy, for employment growth and for economic and social cohesion in the Community;

acknowledging that the economic and regulatory environment should favour the development of firms and should not impose unnecessary costs on them;

acknowledging that small and medium-sized enterprises require adequate financial resources, especially risk capital, a highly qualified workforce and management capable of meeting new challenges in an ever more rapidly changing world and access to new technology and marketing skills which enable them to operate successfully on the European internal market and to meet competition from third countries;

acknowledging that a Community level the availability of relevant information on the Community and cooperation between firms in different Member States are of particular importance;

UNDERTAKES, in full agreement with the Commission, to provide a favourable business environment and to promote small and medium-sized enterprises in the Community;

this policy will be worked out in consultation between the Member States and the Commission and will be based on the following guidelines:

(a) the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises must be achieved through a strengthening of market forces;

(b) the cost to enterprises of compliance with Community legislation must be minimized and unnecessary regulations avoided;

(c) existing legislation should be reviewed with a view to appropriate simplification;

(d) measures at Community level should not duplicate those at the level of the Member States;

they should, as far as possible, make use of existing structures rather than create new ones;

(e) the opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Structural Funds, in the Community's research and development programmes and in other Community programmes should be increased;

(f) at Community level specific services with a European dimension are of importance to small and medium-sized enterprises, inter alia the provision of information and the promotion of transfrontier cooperation between enterprises and with other private and public organizations;

(g) at Community level the exchange of experiences from the various parts of the Community and the demonstration of concrete measures can help to improve the efficiency of programmes to support small and medium-sized enterprises;

the Commission will take up, develop and encourage these initiatives;

(h) Community measures should be taken in close consultation with the social partners;

(i) the action should take account of the variety of institutional and cultural structures in the Community, which gives rise to different needs;

WELCOMES the progress which has been made in implementing the action programme for small and medium-sized enterprises and requests the Commission, in the light of the completion of the internal market, to accelerate its work on implementing all the aspects of this policy and to provide the necessary conditions for close cooperation with the Member States;

UNDERLINES the importance of the impact assessment exercise to assess the consequences and costs of compliance with Community legislation for all enterprises and requests the Commission continually to seek improvements to the system along the lines set out in the abovementioned Commission communication on simplifying administrative procedures;

UNDERLINES the need for simple legal and fiscal regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises and in this context urges in particular that the Fourth Company Law Directive be examined with a view to its further substantial simplification;

EMPHASIZES the need for Member States to take account of the impact assessments in discussions in the Council;

UNDERLINES the necessity of improving the flow of information to small and medium-sized enterprises on Community affairs and in this context supports the Commission's intention of carrying out, together with the Member States, an evaluation of the Euro Info Centres project and to that end invites the Commission to convene a committee composed of representatives of the Member States;

finally, invites the Commission to submit, in the light of the results of the evaluation and after consultation with the committee, a programme for the extension of that project;

UNDERLINES the necessity of strengthening business cooperation across frontiers and welcomes in this connection the development of the Commission's programme in this area, and especially the business cooperation network (BC-NET) pilot project;

CONSIDERS also that it is necessary to intensify the discussions on small and medium-sized enterprises policy in the Council.

By the Council

The President

CH. SCHWARZ-SCHILLING