The competitiveness of the EU’s small and medium-sized enterprises in light of new administrative burdens/obligations

EESC exploratory opinion at the request of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU on The competitiveness of the EU’s small and medium-sized enterprises in light of new administrative burdens/obligations (e.g. relating to non-financial reporting)

Key points

The EESC:

• considers that, despite the launch of different EU initiatives in the past, further improvements on the reduction of the regulatory burden are still required, given that SMEs are facing double and triple legislative requirements as a result of the additional wave of regulation and existing requirements, also in relation to the Green Deal;
• takes the view, at the same time, that reducing the regulatory burden must not jeopardise compliance with social, environmental and consumer safety rights and standards established at international and EU levels, as well as with the principle of transparency and the rule of law in the EU;
• recommends that the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) is significantly strengthened and made more independent, by carrying out a ‘consistency and subsidiarity check’ at the beginning of each legislative process and being empowered with appropriate revision and advisory rights;
• recommends that the SME test and the competitiveness check should be merged into one procedure;
• recommends making use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to create an easy-to-use ‘single reporting tool’ that can provide SMEs, mid-caps and other companies with all EU-relevant reporting obligations, deadlines and sanctions;
• points out the need for the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to develop an expedited procedure for impact and risk assessments carried out by their own policy departments in the case of amendments that would substantially reshape the proposals adopted by the European Commission;
• believes that the Council of the EU and national authorities should also make greater use of the opportunities for reviewing responsibilities (subsidiarity), particularly with regard to the impact on SMEs, consumers, administration and justice.

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