GUE/NGL calls for increasing funding for SMEs

 

Statement of Neoclis Sylikiotis, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL, MEP

AKEL C.C. Press Office

 

On 2nd September 2 the 2015 EU Budget will be voted in the Committee on Industry, Energy and Research of the European Parliament INTRE.

Together with other MEPs of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left participating in this Committee, we tabled three amendments to increase the funds given to SME’s.

One amendment submitted aims at increasing the fund allocated to strengthening entrepreneurship. More specifically we demanded an increase in the allocation given to SME’s and for the creation of new jobs with labour rights safeguarded.

The second amendment calls for increasing the funds given to improve the process of the SME’s access to funding.

Finally, the third amendment proposes something new. We call for the EU to finance for the first time a pilot program to strengthen relationships between SME’s. The aim is to organize SME’s and for them to develop a common struggle for the common problems they face in order to assert in a more organized way and thereby their interests more effectively.

SME’s are the backbone of the economy of both Cyprus and the entire EU. However, the problems they have to face, especially now during the economic crisis, are many and unbearable. That is why we call on the MEPs of other political groups, especially Cypriots, to support the amendments we submit to succeed in supporting SME’s, but also to protect the employment rights of people working in them who are living with insecurity and fear of dismissal.