Publicat pe 03/12/2014

Measures proposed for the support of the SME sector for the revision of the Small Business Act (SBA) 2015-2020 by the European Commission

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) welcomes the public consultation process, at the European level, regarding Small Business Act (SBA) 2015-2020 and supports the governmental approach towards the SME sector, the backbone of the Romanian economy. The proposals launched by the European Commission consolidate the political decision maker’s commitment, at both national and European level, in all Member States, to increase the support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
We are certain that the Chamber System in Romania can contribute to a sustainable development of the SME sector, while we offer our expertise in order to shape the Romanian associative environment’s recommendations for the decision makers.
CCIR has constantly supported the SME sector, encouraging on every occasion the public policies development towards the growth of the Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises number and added value. Going through the documentation made available by the European Commission for this consultation, together with the existing European directives and rules, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania considers that the improvement of national legislation for the development of Romanian SMEs is of utmost importance, while there are a series of measures we find to be primary.
According to the directions assumed at European level, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania recommends to the Government the following courses of action for the 2015-2020 period:

1. Reduction of the administrative burden for SMEs
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania supports the European principle Think small first, an approach which allows a simpler regulatory framework and administrative environment for the SME sector. While implementing instruments which allow the SMEs to register in a short amount of time, with low levels of taxes, the authorities create the incentives to start and develop SME related activities.
Accordingly, CCIR targets the adoption of the announced measures at European level towards the reduction of administrative burden for SMEs:
 registration of a SME in no longer than 3 days, at a maximum cost of €100;
 granting functioning licenses in no longer than a month;
 a discharge within maximum three years for entrepreneurs having gone bankrupt;
 adoption of a simplified fiscal regime for new companies;
 application of the SME test for all legislative initiatives relevant for the SME;
 cooperation of public authorities with SMEs and the associative environment in order to identify and eliminate the bottlenecks in the national legislation for the development of the SME sector.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania also targets to consult with the SME sector in order to collect the information on the existing laws and to submit them to the Government of Romania to be taken into consideration when elaborating future normative acts.

2. Access to financing for SMEs
Among the most frequent problems for the SMEs in Romania there is the access to financing, while there is a series of indicators which prevent the growth of the added value brought by the SMEs in the Romanian economy. According to the 2013 SBA Fact Sheet Romania, issued by the European Commission, the Romanian SMEs deal with rejected loan applications, low access to public financial support (including guarantees), low availability of the banks to grant a loan and lost payments. Consequently, CCIR suggests:
 grating state guarantees for the contracted loans for SMEs which want to develop their activities and their access on international markets;
 improvement of the SMEs access to risk capital;
 implementation of a legislation regarding the development of participative financing for SMEs (crowd-funding) and dissemination of the risks, benefits and means to access financing lines of this type;
 strengthening the inter-institutional cooperation, among public authorities, the associative environment and financial institutions in order to achieve a better SME access to the existing financial instruments;
 SME access to the facilities and financing instruments offered through the enterprise and SME competitiveness program (COSME 2014-2020) of the European Union.
3. Access to markets for the SMEs
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania places a particular emphasis on the Romanian companies’ internationalization, considering that the limited access to the domestic market does not allow an optimal development of the business environment. The SME sector in Romania is below the European average regarding the enterprise internationalization, thus a reason why CCIR supports an immediate and coherent action of the decision makers towards to SME internationalization. In this context, CCIR finds necessary:
 development of the External Trade Portal, together with CCIR’s National System of Business Information (SNIA), in order to disseminate all the trade opportunities with international partners;
 creation of a portal with information regarding the requirements for SMEs when considering activating on external markets;
 granting governmental support through the external economical representation offices for the SME access on new markets, especially on non-European markets;
 facilitating the Romanian SMEs’ access to communication platforms within the European Union, dedicated to best practice exchange among European SMEs.

4. Development of entrepreneurship and innovation
The entrepreneurial culture has a good perception in the Romanian economy, having a local average similar with the European one. The governmental programs like Start or SRL-Debutant have a positive impact on the entrepreneurs and encourage the economic initiative. An important aspect, though, is represented by the opportunities-oriented activity, which is below the European average, thus affecting the quality of the entrepreneurial activity in Romania. According to the existing European orientation, in order to ensure a positive trend in the future as well, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania recommends:
 diversification of entrepreneurial education in the high-school curricula, by including practical internships for students, in order to develop key competencies related to the entrepreneurship;
 Romanian authorities’ access to the EU support for the creation and development of start-ups centers, in order to encourage the business innovation;
 support for the business innovative management models, through initiatives meant to improve the management abilities in the SME sector;
 encouraging the Romanian entrepreneurs to participate to the European program Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, an initiative which has contributed to the creation of about 2000 enterprises and 12000 jobs in the EU.
5. Training of skilled labor force, according to the market requirements
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania is involved in the development of a dual system of vocational training, based on the German model, in order to train highly skilled staff, according to the existing demands on the labor market. In this context, CCIR finds necessary the coordination of all decision makers involved in the professional training process, in order to ensure coherent actions.
At the same time, CCIR encourages and expresses its availability to cooperate in any endeavor meant to generate a labor offer which meets the market demand, always taking into account the evolution of labor requirements.

Concluding, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania finds necessary a governmental approach which encourages not only the growth of the SME number in Romania, but also the development of their activities, in order to generate added value in the Romanian economy. CCIR expresses its steadfast commitment for the strengthening of this sector, which is primary for Romania’s economic growth, jobs creation and sustainable development.

The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania,
Mihai Daraban