Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash The body representing small businesses at EU level says Europe’s economy is lagging behind. SMEunited has now called for action to help address the issue and for concrete actions at all levels to improve SME competitiveness. This comes after EU heads of State and Government recently pledged…
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash To mark International Women’s Day (8 March), SMEunited has paid tribute to women entrepreneurs and their contribution to the European economy and society. The group, representing SMEs, said women entrepreneurs across Europe “invest their valuable time to represent SMEs at local, regional, national and European level.” According to their recent survey, the…
Photo by Ahsanization ッ on Unsplash SMEunited, the body representing SMEs in Europe, says it “once again strongly condemns the ongoing aggression” by Russia in Ukraine. Together with its members, it says it also continues to support businesses in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees living in Europe. A statement said, “2023 remains a severe year for Ukrainians, facing the…
Speaking on Tuesday at the SME Assembly being held in Slovenia, Véronique Willems, Secretary-General of SMEunited and Christel Delberghe, Director-General of EuroCommerce underlined the role of SMEs as the backbone of vibrant town centres and rural communities, made a joint call for action to address the challenges facing small businesses and the communities they serve:…
The SMEunited report published last week outlines the socio-economic impact of the pandemic and of the containment measures on the labour market and on households. Particular focus is put on the negative consequences faced by self-employed. They have been disproportionately impacted by the crisis. National Recovery and Resilience Plans should provide targeted measures to allow…
The Autumn SMEunited Barometer shows that SMEs are heavily impacted by the crisis. Especially lockdowns had a dramatic impact on many services sectors. The situation for autumn was far from going back to normal and the second wave may stop the rebound completely. The pandemic drops SME confidence to an all-time low of 54,2 points….
The latest EU SME Barometer presented shows an unprecedented drop in the Business Climate for SMEs caused by the COVID-19 crisis. This is mainly due to very negative results for the past semester, but also the expectations from the second semester are subdued. As a consequence, the SME Climate Index fell by 18.8, reaching 54.6…
The EU’s European Recovery Strategy with its Recovery Fund and the adapted Multiannual Financial is a bold step, said SMEunited President Alban Maggiar in a first reaction to last week’s announcement from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He said it is a strong sign of solidarity combined with the will and the instruments…
The business environment for SMEs has dramatically changed for the worse in the past weeks. This has a huge negative impact on hundreds of thousands of Crafts and SMEs, and also threatens fundamentally the core role which SMEs play in European citizen’s everyday life. To support the survival and quick recovery of SMEs across Europe,…
Ahead of the extraordinary European Council on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, SMEunited President Alban Maggiar has “reminded” European leaders on the priorities ahead. Maggiar says Europe will only be able to provide welfare to its people, if it invests in future competitiveness, based on a greener and digital economy. Therefore, Maggiar urges the European…
