SME Europe (Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Europe) is the official business association of the European People's Party with the aim of defending the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises at European level. [1] The organisation was founded in May 2012 by the three Members of the European Parliament, Paul Rübig, Nadezhda Neynsky and Bendt Bendtsen.
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with conservative and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties, not individuals. Founded by primarily Christian democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives.
Paul Rübig is an Austrian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Austria. He is a member of the Austrian People's Party, part of the European People's Party.
Nadezhda Neynsky, previously known as Nadezhda Nikolova Mihaylova is a Bulgarian politician. In the past, she was Minister of Foreign affairs (1997–2001), head of Union of Democratic Forces and Member of the Bulgarian Parliament. Since 2009, she has been a Member of European Parliament.
SME Europe is an organisation established under Belgian law. It has no legal link to the former SME Union, [2] but numerous of its former members are now active in the newly established SME Europe.
Politically, SME Europe urges for a reform of the legal framework in favour of small and medium size enterprises (SME) all across Europe. It pushes for a more efficient use of EU funds to strengthen SMEs. [3] Together with cooperation partners is regularly organises events at European level in order to raise awareness of the needs of SMEs. [4] [5]
The European Commission supports the organisation through its two honorary members, the Commissioner for Regional Development Johannes Hahn [6] und EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani. [7] Furthermore, in 2013, the former President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, the former President of Eurochambres, Christoph Leitl, as well as the former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Ingo Friedrich became Honorary Members of SME Europe. [8]
The European Commission (EC) is an institution of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg City, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate. Unlike in the Council of the European Union, where members are directly and indirectly elected, and the European Parliament, where members are directly elected, the Commissioners are proposed by the Council of the European Union, on the basis of suggestions made by the national governments, and then appointed by the European Council after the approval of the European Parliament.
Johannes Hahn is an Austrian politician who has served as European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations since November 2014. He previously served as European Commissioner for Regional Policy from 2010 to 2014 and as Austrian minister for science and research from 2007 to 2010.
Antonio Tajani is an Italian politician and former Italian Army's officer, serving as President of the European Parliament since 2017, and has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2014.
