Meeting of the SMEs, Professions & Crafts Category

The SMEs, Professions & Crafts category met for the first time on 3 February 2016, chaired by re-elected spokesperson Panagiotis GKOFAS. The category also appointed its spokesperson for the Liberal Professions, Arno METZLER, Vice-President of Group III.

At the meeting, Mr Gkofas introduced the long-term objectives of the category and, after discussions with members, he outlined the main areas of interest for the coming years, such as administrative burdens, vocational training, access to finance and support for start-ups.

The Category welcomed Commission officials presenting the latest developments on the SME chapter in the TTIP negotiations (Luca DE CARLI, policy officer at DG TRADE), EU SME policies (Maria Pia VIGLIAROLO, policy officer at DG GROW), Internationalisation opportunities for SMEs (Wojciech SOPINSKI, policy officer at DG GROW) and SMEs’ perspectives in EU rural development programmes (Éva DIMOVNÉ KERESZTES, policy analysis and coordination at DG AGRI).

Please find some of the presentations and links discussed during the meeting below (documents only available in English)