20/6/2003
Western Balkan countries to endorse European Charter for Small Enterprises

The countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro) are due to endorse the European Charter for Small Enterprises at the European Union - Western Balkans Summit of Thessaloniki (Greece) on 21 June 2003.

Following recommendations made by the European Commission in its second annual report on the Stabilisation and Association process for South Eastern Europe and its recent Communication “The Western Balkans and European Integration”, the heads of state & government of the region will now formally commit their countries to the 10 principles of the Charter, which outlines what national governments and the Commission must do to improve the environment for small businesses. With this step, they join 29 other European countries EU Members, the thirteen candidates as well as Norway who are already working closely together on the implementation of the principles of this Charter. This will bring the number of countries that have formally committed themselves to the Charter to 34. Through the work of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Kosovo is also covered by the scheme.

Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen said: «I am very happy to see the commitment of the Western Balkan countries to improve the environment for small businesses. In these countries, even more so than in the EU, small businesses are the backbone of the economy and we must therefore do more to take account of their situation when legislating and setting policies in the future. 34 countries have now committed themselves to the principles of the European Charter for Small Enterprises, which give small businesses the policy attention they require».

The Thessaloniki summit is a landmark stage in the process of aligning the countries in the Western Balkans to good practice in enterprise policy in the wider Europe. The current economic reform process, as is taking shape within the Stabilisation and Association Process, is expected to receive a further boost from a reinforced effort for enterprise development. Whilst co-operation between the EU and the region is in place for reform measures such as trade liberalisation, privatisation, regulatory reform and foreign investment promotion, a clear framework for working together on enterprise development has so far been lacking. The European Charter for Small Enterprises is conceived as providing such a framework, which should place indigenous economic development higher on the political agenda. It will help to develop a business environment that allows local entrepreneurs to fill the gaps left by a receding and reforming state sector, and seize the opportunities provided by the reform process.

The Commission will discuss the countries' implementation of the Charter in a first series of bilateral meetings in the region, to which key enterprise policy stakeholders will be invited. Under the auspices of UNMIK, a bilateral meeting will also take place in Kosovo on 11 September.

EU leaders at the Feira European Council approved the European Charter for Small Enterprises on 19-20 June 2000. The Charter calls upon Member States and the Commission to take action to support and encourage small enterprises in ten key areas:

Education and training for entrepreneurship,
Cheaper and faster start ups,
Better legislation and regulation,
Availability of skills,
Improving online access,
Getting more out of the Single Market,
Taxation and financial matters,
Strengthening the technological capacity of small enterprises,
Making use of successful e-business models and developing top-class small business support,
Developing stronger, more effective representation of small enterprises' interests at Union and national level.

Candidate countries endorsed the European Charter for Small Enterprises at the landmark conference in Maribor (Slovenia) on 23-24 April 2002

Candidate countries will be included in the Charter reporting system from 2003 onwards on an equal footing with the Member States. For the Western Balkan countries, the Commission will issue a separate report, which will likely include targets and benchmarks for the coming period.