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10.6.2021 7 EUROPE This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. AS the European Union's Small and Medium Sized Enterprises struggle to emerge from the economic tur- moil brought about by the Coronavi- rus pandemic, Maltese MEP Josianne Cutajar warned on Monday that, "A high-level discussion, alone, is not the panacea for all the challenges Europe- an SMEs are witnessing". The Labour MEP was speaking at a European Parliament debate with the European Commission on the 'State of the SMEs Union' and a strategy to help them emerge from the pandemic. Speaking during the debate, Cutajar stressed it was still too early to con- sider easing economic stimuli, saying, "The recovery phase is starting, but it is still too early to lift the liquidity re- lief measures that have so far helped SMEs weather the crisis." Paying tribute to "the efforts of the many entrepreneurs leading micro, small and medium businesses, espe- cially in this last, difficult year and a half ", she called for more innovation and the lifting of bureaucratic hurdles if Europe's SMEs are to find their feet and see their confidence restored. The EU, Cutajar said, needs to "think small first" in that support for SMEs means "progressive support. "We cannot fail this time. We will not miss this opportunity." The European Commission's com- munication on 'An SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe' had been published on 10 March 2020, just a day before the World Health Organisation issued its COVID-19 pandemic alert. Since then, the ensuing economic crisis made a revision of the strate- gy necessary for the EU's 24 million SMEs, which together generate more than half of the EU's GDP. Parliament is calling for measures to help small and medium enterprises deal with the crisis and the twin chal- lenges of digitalisation and decarbon- isation. A recent EP report, adopted with 533 votes to 58 and 82 abstentions, stresses the need to update the Euro- pean Commission's SME strategy in the light of the COVID crisis while keeping the focus on advancing the transition toward a socially, econom- ically and environmentally resilient society and a competitive economy. In the report, MEPs call for aligning the SME Strategy with the Industrial Strategy, the European Data Strategy and the European Green Deal, in or- der to actively involve and support all SMEs in the twin transition. As SMEs miss the necessary re- sources to face complex bureaucratic requirements, the excess of adminis- trative and regulatory burden is hin- dering their ability to thrive, accord- ing to the report. MEPs have stressed the immediate need to restore the liquidity of SMEs to ensure their basic functioning, and warn that their post-COVID-19 sur- vival, in particular of micro-enterpris- es given their structural weaknesses, will depend on swift decision-making, adequate funding and availability of liquidity. MEPs are also concerned about the difficulties in accessing EIB funding lines faced by most SMEs, partly be- cause of lacking awareness, but also slowness and excessive complexity of the procedures and eligibility criteria. Investments in innovation should pri- oritize ecosystems that are inclusive of SMEs. High-level discussions alone are no panacea for EU SMEs' post-COVID challenges – Josianne Cutajar "The recovery phase is starting, but it is still too early to lift the liquidity relief measures that have so far helped SMEs weather the crisis" Josianne Cutajar

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