The Commission recently adopted Community measures to press ahead with and intensify enterprise policy in the Community, particularly in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992, the European Council, endorsing the guidelines put forward by the Commission, agreed action on a wide scale to support growth in the Community. The Declaration on Promoting Economic Recovery in Europe states that: "Recognizing the importance of SMEs for creating employment and stimulating growth, the European Council called upon the Council and the Commission to ensure that the burdens from Community legislation on small and medium-sized enterprises are reduced (including through the use of simplified schemes and exemption limits in the field of indirect taxation) and that full information about Community support is provided to SMEs. It asked the Commission to accelerate the actions in favour of SMEs which have proven their worth at the Community level." SMEs account for a major share of GDP, employment and regional development in the Community, and thus make a significant contribution to its economy. The current crisis of confidence and the economic difficulties now affecting Community action nevertheless underscore the soundness of the analysis underlying the launch of an enterprise policy, and of the measures taken since. The need to press ahead with and intensify the policy has now been recognized and a priority part of it has been made central to the recovery and expansion of the Community economy. The objective of reviving growth justifies bringing forward and increasing the Community's effort with regard to priority measures capable of mobilizing enterprises to achieve the recovery objective for the period 1993-96 (EICs, BRE, BE-Net, Europartenariat, Interprise, subcontracting, administrative and legal environment, promotion of Community instruments). To mobilize businessmen in the short term, it is essential to draw attention to the longer-term prospects which the Community intends to provide in support of the steady expansion of enterprises, and in particular SMEs. The need for longer-term action is the reason why a proposal for a decision has been put forward which identifies the instruments and areas which will ensure the continuity of enterprise policy in the period 1994-97 (measures aimed more particularly at sections of the economy that are expanding, such as small firms and craft businesses, the distributive sector, cooperatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations; action to promote a better financial environment; the monitoring and evaluation of the policy). The coexistence within the unitary framework of enterprise policy of two proposals for decisions, each with its own value added, should make it possible to optimize the macro- and microeconomic effects of the enterprise dimension. A degree of balance between these two aspects of enterprise policy is necessary to ensure that action to restore business confidence in a depressed economy does not jeopardize the credibility of Community action by neglecting the need to tackle long-term structural change. The Commission, in adopting this programme in favour of enterprises, therefore seeks to reinforce immediately those areas for priority action which could provide an immediate response to the adjustment needs of enterprises in a period of uncertainty. It will also have to ensure the continuity of supporting measures, whether of a general nature or in favour of specific categories of enterprises, in order to avoid merely shifting over time or from one business category to another the tendency towards negative expectations, the effect of which on economic development is clearly visible today. The general economic situation calls for a special effort where enterprises are concerned which must complement the substantial activity carried out in this connection for several years and designed to ensure the thorough involvement of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, in a Community economy and society experiencing wholesale change. * * *
