CUPRINS - Universitatea George Bacovia

Lutgart Spaepenchanges in policy making that should be more geared to their specific needs. Sincethe summer of 2000, European heads of states and governments adopted numerousstrategies intended to integrate small businesses into the EU economic policy.Something that is crucial as SMEs now account for more than half of the EU’sproduction and employment. A valid reason for which European SMEs should beseen as key stakeholders in the development of policy. But we can still perceive alack of representation of SMEs among policymakers. And when we analyse thisfurther we can only conclude that a lot still has to be done.‘Think small first’.When going through the seven Annual Reports of the Observatory onEuropean SMES, made since 1993 by the European Network for SME Research onbehalf of the European Commission, one notes for example that the overallperception and expectation of European integration and its effects on their properbusinesses among SMEs is certainly positive and clearly indicates a dynamism inthe European integration process also among small businesses. But we need,though, also to see that the positive effects are more and better perceived by largercompanies than the smaller ones.Very often assumptions and expectations underlying policy making are basedon macro-economic statistics while it is only by means of micro-level data that theexpectations of European integration with regard to SMEs can be tested against theirperceptions and reality. 3 Small businesses cannot cope with EU regulations as well asbig enterprises and therefore policy makers should foresee business impact assessmentsmore focused on SMEs. Further research here is therefore strongly advised in order tomake policies more effectively geared to the real needs of small businesses.Small businesses, among other, are likely to be affected depending on thebusiness activity in which they operate. It is one thing talking about a retail outlet andquite another talking about a restaurant or a small manufacturing firm. All of these maybe small businesses, but their interests are likely to be different. All depends very muchon the area of business activity that one is talking about. So it is essential thatpolicymakers are kept awake of their concerns at all times and across a wide range ofareas. However complex and not easy this at the present stage might seem.“Gazelles can stumble, turtles cannot”.Creating the conditions for a sound and sustainable economic growth is themain purpose of the Lisbon Strategy.43 Johan Lambrecht, “European integration: Have the expectations fit the SME perceptions andreality?”, 2004, Research Centre for Entrepreneurship EHSAL- KU Brussels4 Johan Lambrecht, “Te veel attributen en te weining regie in het bedrijfsleven, Een pleidooivoor ondernemend bestuur!”, 2004, Research Centre for Entrepreneurship EHSAL-KU Brussels126