European Commission presents new approach to ensure that the EU responds better to the needs of small businesses.

The European Commission today presents a new approach to ensure that the EU responds better to the needs of small businesses. From now on, the Commission will seek wherever possible to exempt micro-enterprises from EU legislation or introduce special regimes so as to minimise the regulatory burden on them.

In a report to the Council and the European Parliament, the Commission presents a list of initiatives of this kind already taken and to be examined for the future. It announces stronger means to ensure the input of micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the formulation of new EU initiatives.

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission said: "The smallest enterprises have a central role in economic recovery, but at the same time they are the most vulnerable. For them, complying with regulation can be ten times more expensive than for large companies. We therefore want to lend them a helping hand and reduce the regulatory burden to a minimum so that their growth potential is fully unleashed for the benefit of the European economy."

As of January 2012 the Commission will further:

- step up the search for exemptions or lighter requirements for micro-enterprises in existing and new EU legislation;

- strengthen the processes by which micro-enterprises and other SMEs are consulted when reviewing existing EU regulation and preparing new EU laws;

- produce annual scoreboards to evaluate the real benefits for businesses and to ensure a continuing focus on their needs and interests.