Brussels, 09/06/2009
As European enterprises and employees are seriously affected by the current financial and economic crisis, the search for the best policy-mix to master theses crises and turmoil as well as to support economic recovery and labour market stabilisation is a joint interest of European social partners. And having in mind the dominant role small and medium sized enterprises play in Europe’s economy and their important contribution for employment, it is evident that SME have a crucial role in this recovery.
It is a common view of the European institutions and the social partners that although SMEs are regarded as a key player in job creation, innovation and economic as well as social progress in Europe, many challenges remain in the context of unlocking business constraints, improving business environments, working methods and processes and/or working conditions and fostering high quality employment and in micro, small and medium sized enterprises. Therefore the European Commission has initiated a number of activities in order to support SMEs, including the adoption of the ‘Small Business Act’ in June 2008 to improve SMEs' competitiveness.
It is against this background that UEAPME and ETUC have initiated a joint project on ‘Cooperation between SMEs and trade unions in Europe on common economic and social concerns’. This joint project is not the first joint initiative of the two organisations: In recent years, UEAPME and ETUC have undertaken a number of bilateral and multilateral activities with the other two European employers' organisations through joint work programmes and projects thereby documenting their joint responsibilities in the context of economic and social change. These initiatives have made the partnership between UEAPME and ETUC into one of the constituent elements of European Social Dialogue.
Three initiatives which have been developed by UEAPME and the ETUC or where both have been actively involved in should be mentioned in particular here.
• A joint declaration on recognition of ‘Social dialogue as an instrument for meeting the economic and social challenges faced by small enterprises’ published 2001.
• A joint project undertaken by ETUC and UEAPME with a view to enlargement, focusing on the social acquis, social dialogue and SMEs in the new member states in central and eastern Europe.
• Finally, within the framework of their joint work programmes, the European social partners have also organised a number of seminars on the development capacity of their respective members in the new member states and on restructuring. These joint experiences, evaluated positively by employers and unions alike, also emphasised the interest of debating the role, common interests and shared responsibilities of the social partners, whether European or national.
The participation of UEAPME and ETUC (along with other European social partner organisations) in the European Commission's ‘Restructuring Forum’ on the theme of ‘Adaptation of SMEs to change’ in November 2007, also constituted encouragement for the further development of joint research and initiatives in fields such as training, demographic challenges, the need to anticipate change and social relations in SMEs.
In the light of accelerated structural economic, social and political changes that occurred in Europe throughout the last decade, ETUC and UEAPME have started in 2008 a joint project to revise, adjust and update their partnership.
Content of report
This report focuses on topics that have been identified by both organisations as important and on fields of joint interest, including:
• Context and background – The challenges
• * The role of SMEs in Europe today
• *Patterns and driving forces of structural change in SMEs
• *“Silent restructuring once again”:
• ** The position of SMEs in the current economic crisis
• ** The role of social dialogue
• Factsheets on common economic and social concerns
• * The territorial dimension: Local and regional development
• * Management of demographic challenges and the role of training in SMEs
• * Innovation and quality
• * Undeclared work
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