Integrated programme in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

The resolution adopted stresses that, although the European Parliament welcomes the choice of an integrated approach, it trusts that this approach will result in greater coordination, transparency, efficiency and coherence as regards the initiatives themselves, the aim being to avoid any wastage of resources. The specific measures contained in the resolution include: - simplifying the administration imposed on SMEs, especially by ensuring that the transposition of Union directives into national legislation does not increase their costs; - the need for the Commission to table coercive proposals in order to regulate the problem of late payments. Both Union institutions and national administrations should set an example here by reducing their backlog of overdue payments; - the need for the Commission to present programmes, with which SMEs are associated, outlining certain ideas for creating jobs in sectors such as local services and environmental protection; - simplifying the procedure used by SMEs to access EU funds; - the need for the Commission to study how to give financial institutions a better understanding of the problems faced by SMEs, possibly by developing a system of seconding staff to SMEs, - the need, within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme, to allocate suitable appropriations to vocational training in order to ensure that SMEs can acquire the qualifications needed in order to adapt to industrial change.�