Our President François Decoster, Mirja Vehkapera, Tobias Gotthardt, Thomas Rohden and Dainis Turlais provide concrete examples on how local and regional authorities support SMEs in their local communities during the Renew Europe SME Task Force meeting in the European Parliament.
Our group is dedicated to promoting an entrepreneurial spirit, as SMEs are key to the European recovery. They employ more than 100 million Europeans, and are vital to the economy, showing the creativity and innovation from our entrepreneurs. Almost 40 locally elected representatives, from 15 different countries, contributed to the “Supporting SMEs at the local and regional level” brochure, bringing together several examples of local and regional support to SMEs by Renew Europe CoR members. It showcase various examples that aim to facilitate a local entrepreneurial spirit, putting SMEs at the heart of our European economy.
To illustrate this, our President François Decoster, Mayor of Saint-Omer, as well as members Mirja Vehkapera, Tobias Gotthardt, Thomas Rohden and Dainis Turlais spoke to the Renew Europe Task Force members in the European Parliament, presenting their actions to the chair of the Task Force, MEP Martina Dlabajová, and other MEPs such as Mauri Pekkarinen, Róża Thun Und Hohenstein and Iskra Mihaylova.
Gotthardt spoke about a centre for AI, located in his region of Bavaria, Germany, which aims to future-proof SMEs in a digitalizing world. He said: “People want less bureaucracy. They want to see a Europe, which truly delivers. Through initiatives such as this one, we can make this a reality, and provide concrete support to local businesses on the ground, fit for the digital age.”
Following an exchange between Renew Europe MEPs and CoR members on enhancing local, regional, national and European cooperation to support SMEs, Dlabajová said: “With this brochure, we can see real and tangible impact for our European SMEs. We must now focus on using this potential, we must promote this initiative, and with the right tools continue to provide the necessary support to entrepreneurs.“
The Renew Europe SME Taskforce includes 23 MEPs from all over Europe, representatives of the Renew Europe Group in the CoR and other partners who bundle their experience, knowledge and skills to always look at new European legislation from an SME-perspective.
