Formerly approving the SBA will "ensure the necessary high visibility", while making its provisions binding will "have a significant positive effect on the environment for SMEs".
Concrete measures and screening system needed to ensure SBA is effective
Moreover, for the SBA to be effective, Member States need to be fully behind its implementation. This means putting in place concrete measures at both Member State and regional level to "complement measures adopted at EU level". EU members are asked "to announce how and within what timeframe the elements of the Think Small First principle will be incorporated into the national regulatory frameworks".
There should also be a screening system in place to monitor the progress and implementation of the SBA, set up by both the Commission and Member States, and progress made in the implementation process should be included in a stand-alone chapter in the annual reports on the Lisbon Strategy national reform programmes, both of which would ensure that the SBA is effective, say MEPs.
€30 billion for SME loans is not sufficient
The resolution states that the current financial market crisis has made the shortcomings of the present framework for SMEs even more obvious and has heightened the urgency of having their needs better taken into account. As such, MEPs call on the Commission and Member States to ensure that SMEs have access to finance "in this critical moment".
The new package of the European Investment Bank envisaging €30 billion for SME loans as agreed by the ECOFIN is welcome but MEPs are of the view that the amount "will not be sufficient to solve the current problems of SME financing".
