On Friday at Villa Bianca, a genuine European and proactive atmosphere was felt among the many economists who accepted the invitation. All were aware of the problem of the economic squeeze facing the European Union and that it cannot be solved in the streets. The solution lies in creating aEuropethat is favourable for businesses. This means faster changes in the elimination of red tape and improving the business environment within the Single Market. Small and medium-sized enterprises are of the utmost important for the European economy, as they have generated 80% of the new jobs in the past five years. According to existing criteria, this definition can be assigned to the majority of Slovenian companies.
We talked about plans that will be implemented over the coming years in the European Union under which funds will be dedicated to the development of science and innovation, boosting the economy, and creating an entrepreneurial culture. The COSME program will be primarily dedicated to improving access to finance for EU enterprises; Horizon 2020 will be dedicated to ensuring Europe’s global competitiveness in science and innovation; Connecting Europe is expected to provide resources for European infrastructure programs to facilitate integration; and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund will help workers who lost their jobs due to structural changes or the economic crisis, to search for new jobs and develop new skills.
It is obvious that companies are aware and see opportunities in projects that can be co financed with European funds, but they also know that this is not the only solution. It is important to promote the development of quality entrepreneurship, changes in the educational system, foster the transfer of knowledge into practice, improve internet infrastructure … We will have to be able to connect traditional production units in Slovenia with new, international and high-tech know-how.
The playing field has changed. Companies and the state must adapt to the new situation as soon as possible.Europeoffers a financial platform, but businesses must be able to know how to use it and intelligently integrate themselves. We agreed that the European market is a region, which offers opportunities and we need to think about the competitiveness of products and services globally.
