24/04/2008: Joint Meeting of the Family and Protection of Childhood Intergroup. Marie Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou MEP and Othmar Karas MEP
The Family and Protection of Childhood and the SME Intergroups met yesterday under the presidency of Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou and Othmar Karas to address the topic of family-friendly initiatives adopted by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The meeting, which gathered the participation of the Deputy Director-General of DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission, Françoise Lebail, the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME), and the European Centre for Workers' Questions (EZA) as well as representatives of the civil society, aimed at recalling SMEs' crucial contribution to economic and social development, and competition. The meeting also intended to analyse how SMEs take into consideration and respond to the families' special needs.
In this framework, Mrs Lebail underlined that during the past 5 years, 2/3 of new jobs were created in family companies and that 75% of the employees of the private sector work in SMEs. She recalled the need for a study concerning the identification of SMEs' specific characteristics at local and regional level. Taking into account the demographic problem, it is estimated that a 100 million companies per year undergo a change of ownership which is far more expensive than the opening of a new enterprise. In addition, SMEs have to deal with fiscal as well as financial difficulties to which one must add high administrative costs. Mrs Lebail underlined that the Commission launched the Small Business Act, which opened for consultations in March and has committed to reducing the administrative costs faced by SMEs by 24% until 2012. The European Commission reaffirmed its commitment to the respect of the principle of non-discrimination and the promotion of a better conciliation of family and professional life.
The representatives of UEAPME and EZA recalled the benefits of family-friendly measures for SMEs. They explained that SMEs face great difficulties to hire and keep qualified personnel and that in order to remain competitive towards bigger companies, they should offer favourable family conditions to their employees. They underlined the important external dimension which portrays SMEs as a positive image in the local and regional community and reaffirmed the role of SMEs as socially-responsible actors.
At the end of the debate, the Presidents of the Intergroups, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP and Othmar Karas MEP, recalled that the exchange of best practices between Member States remains the best solution for a long-term improvement in families' living conditions and wished for these exchanges to increase with time. More particularly, they referred to the German and French examples.
In 2003, the German Government launched the Federal Alliance for the Family, an initiative in collaboration with enterprises, social partners, trade unions and NGOs and created the programme 'Success Factor Families 2008' targeted at enterprises which award companies which have done the most for the family. In France, the Minister for Employment and the State Secretary for the Family presented a 'Charter of Parenting in Enterprises'. Its aim is to contribute to the evolution of the representations linked to parenting within the enterprises and to create a family-friendly environment for parent employees, in particular pregnant women.
For further information:
Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP
Tel: +32-2-2847447
Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu
Notes to Editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 288 Members from all 27 Member States.
In this framework, Mrs Lebail underlined that during the past 5 years, 2/3 of new jobs were created in family companies and that 75% of the employees of the private sector work in SMEs. She recalled the need for a study concerning the identification of SMEs' specific characteristics at local and regional level. Taking into account the demographic problem, it is estimated that a 100 million companies per year undergo a change of ownership which is far more expensive than the opening of a new enterprise. In addition, SMEs have to deal with fiscal as well as financial difficulties to which one must add high administrative costs. Mrs Lebail underlined that the Commission launched the Small Business Act, which opened for consultations in March and has committed to reducing the administrative costs faced by SMEs by 24% until 2012. The European Commission reaffirmed its commitment to the respect of the principle of non-discrimination and the promotion of a better conciliation of family and professional life.
The representatives of UEAPME and EZA recalled the benefits of family-friendly measures for SMEs. They explained that SMEs face great difficulties to hire and keep qualified personnel and that in order to remain competitive towards bigger companies, they should offer favourable family conditions to their employees. They underlined the important external dimension which portrays SMEs as a positive image in the local and regional community and reaffirmed the role of SMEs as socially-responsible actors.
At the end of the debate, the Presidents of the Intergroups, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP and Othmar Karas MEP, recalled that the exchange of best practices between Member States remains the best solution for a long-term improvement in families' living conditions and wished for these exchanges to increase with time. More particularly, they referred to the German and French examples.
In 2003, the German Government launched the Federal Alliance for the Family, an initiative in collaboration with enterprises, social partners, trade unions and NGOs and created the programme 'Success Factor Families 2008' targeted at enterprises which award companies which have done the most for the family. In France, the Minister for Employment and the State Secretary for the Family presented a 'Charter of Parenting in Enterprises'. Its aim is to contribute to the evolution of the representations linked to parenting within the enterprises and to create a family-friendly environment for parent employees, in particular pregnant women.
For further information:
Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP
Tel: +32-2-2847447
Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu
Notes to Editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 288 Members from all 27 Member States.
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