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ESBA's Top Stories in 2007
19 November 2007: ESBA nominee, Gabriel Goucha, appointed to the Commission's flagship HLG on Reducing Administrative Burdens.
President José Manuel Barroso, Vice-President Günter Verheugen and Mr. Edmund Stoiber have announced the composition of the Commission’s new High Level Group (HLG) on Administrative Burdens - Mr. Gabriel Goucha, ESBA Secretary and Vice-President of PME Portugal has been appointed a member.
The main aim of the HLG, which will be chaired by Mr. Stoiber, former Prime Minister of Bavaria, will be to support the Commission in meeting the goals of the Action Plan for Reducing Admin Burdens. Its key target is to reduce admin burdens for businesses in the EU by 25% by 2012. The HLG’s work will follow a measurement exercise carried out by a consortium within the 13 priority areas. It will also examine the burdens and solutions suggested by stakeholders in on-line consultations and workshops carried out so far. Based on the HLG’s proposals, the Commission will make decisions on further actions.
Described as a ‘flagship project’ by President Barroso, the HLG will be composed of 15 experts representing national anti-red-tape bodies, industry, SMEs, trade unions and environmental and consumer organisations. It will first meet at the end of 2007 and has a 3-year mandate. More info is here.
09 November 2007: ESBA launched its first audiovisual Presentation.
ESBA has today launched the first of its new audiovisual presentations on EU SME-related issues. In the presentation, first delivered at ESBA's Annual Event, which took place on 07/06/07, ESBA President Tina Sommer stresses why EU leaders should think small first on Energy Policy. Threats and opportunities are apparent in the legislation arising from recent Energy and Climate Change proposals. The presentation is available here. Please return to this page or email secretariat@esba-europe.org for details of forthcoming editions.
05 November 2007: ESBA President Tina Sommer attended member organisation UMU's Global European Elite SME Award 2007 in Berlin.
On 05/02, ESBA President Tina Sommer was present as former German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, was awarded the 'Europäischen Elite-Mittelstandspreis Globalstufe 2007 / Global European Elite SME Award 2007 ' by ESBA member organisation, the German Union Mittelstaendischer Unternehmen (UMU). The award, which was presented at a ceremony at the Bertelsmann Group's Headquarters in Berlin, is in recognition of Mr. Schröder's outstanding commitment to improving the business environment of SMEs. Former winners of the prize include Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the US and fomer Chinese Prime Minister, Zhu Rongji. The Global European Elite Award complements the Continental European Award (see below) and the domestic Elite Mittelstandspreis, which on 28/06/2007 was presented to Mr. Erwin Huber, Finanzminister of Bavaria by Prof. Roland Berger. ESBA supported both ceremonies. EUMU President, Mr. Hatto Brenner, is also pictured below. A Brochure and Film of the award ceremony is now available here and here.
23 October 2007: ESBA launched the first of its innovative EU Podcasts.
ESBA has today launched the first in a series of new audio podcasts on EU SME-related issues. In an introductory speech, ESBA President Tina Sommer outlines the challenges, which SMEs face arising from EU legislation, describes some of ESBA's recent acheivements, and identifies ways in which small business entrepreneurs can help ESBA improve the environment in which they work. The podcast is available here. Please return to this page, check the EU Press or email secretariat@esba-europe.org for details of forthcoming editions.
09 October 2007: ESBA welcomes the Deutscher Arbeitgeber Verband and Union Mittelstaendischer Unternehmen to the Alliance.
ESBA is pleased to announce that the Deutscher Arbeitgeber Verband e.V. (DAV), based in Berlin, and the German Union Mittelstaendischer Unternehmen (UMU), based in Munich, became ESBA members on 08/06 and 01/09 respectively. ESBA looks forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with its new members and has already carried out activities with both. In August, ESBA President Tina Sommer and Norman Mackel, ESBA’s Treasurer, travelled to Berlin to lead a Capacity Building Workshop for DAV. In October, Tina participated in EUSME’s Board Meeting, of which UMU is a member, and attended the Brussels ‘Oktoberfest’ as their guest.
18 September 2007: ESBA President Tina Sommer visited Copenhagen and Oslo and the ESBA Board Meeting took place in Stockholm
From 10-12/09, ESBA President Tina Sommer learnt about SME representation in Norway and Denmark. The visit to Copenhagen and Oslo entailed a series of meetings with representatives of SME associations or other organisations, including The Copenhagen Institute, a Think Tank, Bedriftsforbundet, an organisation seeking to improve the environment for SMEs and the Oslo Innovation Center, a Science Park with start-up and incubator facilities. On 14/09, ESBA's third and final Board Meeting of 2007, hosted by the DNV, was held in Stockholm. Following productive discussions, the draft Board Meeting Minutes and actions arising have been distributed to attendees.
13 September 2007: ESBA Task Force report on the Swedish business climate is published by member organisation DNV in Stockholm.
At a launch event attended by Gunnar Hökmark MEP, Mats Qviberg, Vice-Director Öresund and Anna Eliasson, an expert from the Ministry of Labour, Patrik Engellau, Director of Swedish Member Organisation DNV and ESBA President Tina Sommer today published the ESBA Task Force report on the pros and cons of the situation that entrepreneurs face in Sweden. Organised by DNV, Tina Sommer, ESBA Secretary Gabriel Goucha and Senior Brussels Representative, Frédéric Soudain visited Stockholm from 24-27/04 to participate in a programme of seminars, in which they met entrepreneurs, academics and other experts from Sweden. Its aim was to assess how Sweden’s entrepreneurial environment is seen from a European perspective and for the Task Force to offer advice based on their findings to the Swedish Government on how to improve the situation for SMEs. The resulting publication, which can be downloaded in English below, includes many familiar recommendations, but some surpises as well.. More info in Swedish is here.
Entrepreneurs
by Patrik Engellau, Gabriel Goucha, Tina Sommer and Frédéric Soudain DNV and ESBA September 2007 |
06 July 2007: ESBA Delegation attended the ICSB Conference in Finland
From 13-16/06, ESBA President Tina Sommer and Treasurer Norman Mackel learnt about SME representation in Finland when they attended the International Council for Small Businesses’ World Conference (ICSB) hosted by the School of Economics in Turku. The theme for the conference was: "At the Crossroads of East and West: New Opportunities for Entrepreneurship and Small Business". Alongside the programme, the visit entailed a series of meetings with representatives of SME associations and other organisations, including Finnvera Plc, a risk-financing expert company, the Finnish Venture Capital Association (FVCA) and the Turku University of Applied Sciences. A trip to Norway and Denmark is scheduled to take place in September.
11 June 2007: The ESBA Board Meeting and 10th Annual Small Business Event on 'SMEs and the futue EU Energy Regime' took place in Brussels
On 08/06, ESBA's second Board Meeting of 2007 was held at Martin's Central Park Hotel in Brussels. Following productive discussions, the draft Board Meeting Minutes and actions arising have been distributed to attendees. Full coverage, including presentations, of ESBA's Annual Event is available here.
21 May 2007: ESBA President addressed the EUMU Congress in Athens
On 19/05, ESBA President Tina Sommer participated in the EUMU-Hellas Conference in Athens. Tina took to the lecturn alongside high level policy makers, notably Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP, President of the European Parliament and Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, as well as other distinguished speakers from the Greek and wider European SME Community. Participants heard presentations about a wide variety of topics including, Women and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, the New Program Period 2007-2013, the Lisbon Strategy and Energy, and Europe in the Globalized Era. As part of her intervention, Tina, who is also Chairman for International Affairs at the UK FSB, showed the promotional film of the FSB’s Brussels Office launch last year.
02 May 2007: ESBA Task Force took part in the Swedish Entrepreneurial Hearings with entrepreneurs, academics and other experts in Stockholm
Alongside Patrik Engellau of Swedish Member Organisation DNV, ESBA President Tina Sommer, Secretary Gabriel Goucha and Senior Brussels Representative, Frédéric Soudain visited Stockholm from 24-27/04 as part of an ESBA Task Force to participate in a programme of seminars, in which they met entrepreneurs, academics and other experts from Sweden. Organised by DNV, the Swedish Entrepreneurial Hearings will form the basis for a report on the pros and cons of the situation that entrepreneurs face in Sweden, which will be prepared during the summer and is planned to be published prior to ESBA’s September Board Meeting in Stockholm. More on the visit is available here.
06 April 2007: ESBA President Tina Sommer attended the German UMU's Continental European SME Award Ceremony 2007 in Munich.
On 28/02, ESBA President Tina Sommer was present as Dr. Ingo Friedrich MEP was awarded the 'Europäischer Mittelstandspreis 2007 Kontinentalstufe / Continental European SME Award 2007' by the German Union Mittelstaendischer Unternehmen (UMU). The Continental European Award complements the Global European Elite Award and the domestic Mittelstandspreis, which on 18/10/2006 was presented to Mr. Dieter Althaus, Ministerpräsident of Thüringen by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. All three awards recognise the recipient's outstanding commitment to improving the business environment of SMEs.
12 February 2007: The ESBA Board Meeting took place in Gibraltar
On 09/02, ESBA's first Board Meeting of 2007, hosted by the GFSB, was held at the Eliot Hotel in Gibraltar. Following productive discussions, the draft Board Meeting Minutes and actions arising have been distributed to attendees.
Page last updated: 09/04/2008 10:06:36 AM