Social Democrat MEP Victor Negrescu pointed out at the last session of the European Parliament that the European economy depends on SMEs, but their growth on the internal market is not based on equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs.

“Over 98% of businesses in the European Union are small and medium-sized enterprises, they produce over 70% of the added value of the European economy and generate tens of millions of jobs in all Member States. Unfortunately, this data is often ignored. The small entrepreneur is left to fend for himself, while others benefit from billions of euros in state aid and preferential access to European funds. The chances of an entrepreneur from a small community to succeed are lower than for an entrepreneur from the big European capitals, and the chances of him succeeding if he belongs to a vulnerable group or a smaller community decrease exponentially”, said MEP Victor Negrescu.

This is why the Romanian representative in the European Parliament stressed the need for a solution to support SMEs, to help them benefit from the internal market, which would be complementary to increasing interaction with high-performing companies in Europe.

To this end, Victor Negrescu proposes a European pact for SMEs, aimed at developing entrepreneurial education, creating accessible regulation as well as setting up a European start-up fund.