Dr. Manfred Vohrer Speaker of the CEAPME Board

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Dr. Manfred Vohrer Speaker of the CEA-PME Board

• Cross Border Networking of
  SME-Associations
• V. INSME Annual Meeting DIT SMEs Forum
• Dubai 21-4-2009 2.30 p.m.

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Why a SME needs an Association?
Policy decides about the legal frame in which a
company can be active. A single company has not
the potential to influence policy only as a
group/association they become powerful. SMEs are
powerful as voters but weak in traditional branch
associations where the big companies are the
decision makers see farm unions
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Different interests between small and
big companies
Economies of scale versus flexibility Structural
effects of legislation Taxation corporation
law capital/personal Heritage Environmental
legislation Training dual system to train or
to buy qualification Dimension of public
procurement
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Classic fields of political lobbying for SMEs
Lobbying to improve quality of political
decision making - Hearing SME - Competition
the engine of a market economy Fiscal system
and subsidies Access to credits Social and
ecological rules Development and research
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Tasks of Associations
Representative of political interests Networking
to compensate economies of scale Information
(Newspaper-Communication-Congresses, Workshops)
Representation (social events) BVMW the voice of
SMEs problem how to know the members interests
Fachausschüsse
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Cross border activities

• Relevant Political decision are taken on
• Community
• Regional
• National
• Supranational or
• International level
• Appropriate lobbying has to be organised
  dependant to the importance of the level.
  Tendency of increasing impact of EU/international
  level

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Legislation at supra- and
international level

• EU competence for 80 of national regulations of
  SME
• Competition open borders/mobility of goods,
  capital, services and labour
• Subsidies and Social security
• Energy-Environment-Consumer Protection
• Innovation - Research
• Professional qualification and examination
• Infrastructure
• In the legislative procedures International
  Institutions have a clear preference to negotiate
  with international associations

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Benchmarking

• Political level successful instruments can be
  copied - renewable energy quota versus feed in
  prices
• Social environmental examples
• Networking communication - information