Griffiths meets EU Minister over small business progress

Nigel Griffiths, Minister for Small Business, has met with Erkki Liikanen, the EU Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, ahead of the forthcoming Barcelona summit where progress over the Small Business Charter will be discussed by member states.

Mr Griffiths and Liikanen issued a joint statement after the meeting, stressing their commitment to putting the needs of small business at the heart of their economic activity.

The statement read: 'It is crucial in the run up to the Barcelona summit that all EU member states are 'thinking small first.'

'A report released from EU this week stresses the importance of improving SME representation to ensure the needs of small firms are being put on an equal footing to big business across Europe.

'The UK has taken direct action on this issue by creating small business|europe and it is hoped other EU member states will follow suit soon.

'We want to create 20 million jobs and boost prosperity by 40 per cent across Europe, equating to £5,000 or (8,000) euros for every citizen in the EU by 2010.'

Mr Griffiths said the recent report on the Charter had 'made it clear that putting small firms first must be a continuous process.'

A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said: "The United Kingdom agrees with key findings of the report that efforts must be stepped up to improve the legislative and regulatory frameworks and ensure more effective representation of small businesses' interests at EU and national level."

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Richard Powell, UKTECH