The Committee reiterates that the ambitious challenges facing the EU make it not only desirable but also necessary to increase the size of the EU budget so as to revitalise economic growth and employment. Furthermore, it welcomes the moves to improve and simplify the structure of the EU budget, so as to substantially deflate the issues of fair return and horizontal fairness between the Member States, focusing instead on effectively achieving Europe's strategic objectives. The EU budget should be exemplary, efficient, effective and transparent, so that it gains credibility in the eyes of the European public.
The EESC is fully supportive of the revised directive and it finds much in the regulation which it can support. The EESC has a major concern about the applicability of the regulation to SMEs and it recommends that the more radical proposals be revised.
Download — EESC opinion: Annual accounts and consolidated accounts - Audit - public interest entities
The opinion deals with European Venture Capital sector, which is closely linked to Europe's global competitiveness. The growth of this sector is an objective of the overall Europe 2020 Strategy and also one of the key priorities of the SME action plan. The EESC welcomes the regulation but draws attention to several limitations, which may weaken the anticipated impact.
Download — EESC opinion: European Venture Capital Funds
With the notable exception of some sectors cooperatives represent a limited part of the European economy. However data reported in this opinion show that in times of crisis cooperatives are more resilient and stable than other forms of enterprise as well as they develop new entrepreneurial initiatives. This can be attributed to the specificity of the cooperative enterprises: their long term approach, their strong territorial roots, their promotion of members’ interests, and their focus on cooperation among themselves. The manifested cooperative excellence is important to disseminate and develop in national and EU policies.
