- “I can just confirm what my colleague said, that it applies to the other acts as well. The idea is to simplify things. We don't want to add any extra layer of complication. Simplification is really aimed at simplifying the day-to-day lives of companies, especially the small and medium-sized companies, extending their benefits to the small and mid-caps. When it comes to reporting, that is our objective. We intend to continue in that direction. There will be further steps in that direction; some have already been announced in the Single Market Strategy, for example on standardization, all of the issue of public procurement, the Digital Omnibus Two. So the idea is to continue along this route, continuing to simplify the everyday lives of companies and maintain their competitiveness.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · Simplification measures (political compass)
- “And so the whole policy becomes a bit nonsensical. So the figure we put forward was based on the experience we acquired in order to favor, uh, the good balance and conditionality. Two quick points to finish, uh, an assessment every five years. I remind you that the recommendation on small mid-caps adopted previously already had a mention for an evaluation in May 2030. And this is something which should be carried out fairly regularly, which we also do for the SMEs. The recommendation is from 2003, but there is a regular reassessment for SMEs. The last one was in 2021 and on the impact assessment. As one of the speakers mentioned, we presented a draft document. And we think there are enough relevant measures there. There is some some urgency here. Well, that's that's all I wanted to say anyway. Thank you.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “So it sets out the framework for this definition, and the recommendation is based upon the model of SMEs, which has been around since 2003. So what is a SMC small middle capitalisation company is what it is. And the definition that the Commission adopted in its recommendation has thresholds or ceilings actually multiplying by three what we already include in the definition for SMEs. So that's in terms of the number of staff up to 750 in terms of turnover, up to 150 million. And in terms of balance sheet total up to €129 million. And it was on that basis that we estimated the number of companies that would be concerned at a European level would be around 38,000. It's not an exact science, but it's an order of magnitude at least, and one that we worked out on the basis of a study that was carried out in 2022. So that then, is what we have in terms of the definition. Now, other important aspects that we pick up on the ensuing slides are where these small mid-caps are based. The member states that we find them. And there's a graph up on the screen. I'm not going to go into the detail for each member state there, but you'll see how it's distributed and that there are many in Germany or Austria and somewhat fewer in other countries.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Yes thank you very much. I could just say a few more words about the coherence of the whole package. I think I did explain that in my introductory remarks. That's exactly what we want to have. We need to have coherence across the long term so it apply to SMEs yes but also to the new category. So what we want is to have a position that is coherent and of course that's where we also count upon the Parliament and the rapporteurs our co legislators to do part of that work.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Thank you very much. I'll be speaking French since interpretation is available today. Thank you very much for inviting us here today and giving us the chance to outline our presentation. I would like to apologize on behalf of my director who was unable to be here and who asked me to replace her and to represent DG GRO. So I will say a few words to outline the context here. We're talking about omnibus four and in particular the simplification measures for small mid caps. I'll talk about that and then after that my colleague Mister Monier will talk about data protection and Mister Volman will pick up on digitalization and go into greater detail on that. So first of all to remind you what the goal of omnibus four is here for small mid caps SMCs. It's inspired from the Draghi report. The idea was to create a new category of company just above SMEs in order to support these companies to help them grow and also to boost their competitiveness. On that basis the Commission adopted a new recommendation on the twenty first of May which defines small mid caps and sets out eight legislative acts to come forward and to propose certain measures that would be applicable to SMEs and SMCs, six regulations and two directives. That's what we're talking about here. The idea would be to allow this new category of companies SMCs to benefit from the same measures as SMEs in order to help them transition as they grow and to avoid a case where SMEs would stop benefiting from support as they expand. Under this package the goal is to create a policy in favor of SMEs that is coherent looking towards the future and that aligns with the content of the single market strategy that we also adopted on the twenty first of May. This omnibus is a first step in a long line of many proposals that will come forth to supplement this definition and to make sure that companies can draw on different provisions. This will be based on practice and experience we have gained all of this since we defined SMEs many years ago. The definition actually comes from two thousand and three and is born out in many different pieces of legislation at the European level. I'd also like to take this opportunity to clarify the fact that this initiative will not have a negative impact on SMEs. Of course that's not the goal. Measures support measures for SMEs will remain in place. Discussions within the Council already began and hopefully quick progress will be made under the Danish presidency and our proposal is welcomed by most member states and we hope to have a mandate for the basis of negotiations with the Parliament coming forth in Council in Korypakon Wednesday. So with all of that in mind we do hope that this file will be positively welcomed here as well in the Parliament and will be supported. There are three committees involved according to the proposal LIBRE, ENVY and ECON so I hope that these three committees will adopt the same approach of consistency and support for the proposal and so that hand in hand with the Council everyone can align on this definition definition of SMEs. I will stop there because I know that some of them that my colleagues will go into greater detail on certain aspects particularly data protection which I think is of interest to your committee but I'd be delighted of course to answer any specific questions that you might have for me.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · Simplification measures (political compass)
- “So it obviously is to some extent to do with the size of companies in these countries. So you'll be able to see how that breaks down if you want to look at the detail of that. The next graph, which is also interesting, sets out the industrial sectors where these small mid-caps tend to be located. So this is the other way round. The electronics. Renewable energy. Aerospace and defence. Anything to do with agri food? Energy intensive industries? These all have a high proportion. Those are the industrial sectors where, uh, the The commission is targeting the greatest amount of support under this new mandate. And that, then, is a justification for creating this new category of enterprise and for the support that is going to be forthcoming on the next slide. This is about the omnibus. So we've got the definition or the recommendation that's been adopted for that. And we wanted to implement it. That would mean having it in a number of different, uh, regulative acts. There are eight of them here. So General Data Protection Regulation two for um trade anti-dumping and anti-subsidy. Then there's the MiFID. Directive on financial instruments, the Prospective Regulation and Batteries regulation and the critical entity Resilience Directive and finally the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulation. So that's how the omnibus is put together. And this is then all in the legislative package.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “And that breaks down across the different legislative acts, as you'll see on the screen. And these are all estimates. Of course, this is not science. These are forecasts based on the data that was available to us. So there are acts for which we don't really have the possibility to evaluate that impact, because we're dependent on support and guidance. And when it comes to regulations for trade and critical entity resilience, we haven't really been able to put a figure on that impact evaluation. The final thing, and this is where I'll leave it, is that this omnibus is a first step. We're hoping to extend and apply the definition in future commission proposals. And there's a list on the screen which we've put together for, uh, for example, the internal market strategy. You'll see the dates a little bit more precise here. So it might be the standardisation regulation or the Public Procurement Directive or the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act. These are all proposals coming down the line and some have been adopted already defense, space etc. and soon the digital omnibus. So that's it. I'll leave it there. That's the end of the presentation on the omnibus. And I'm obviously very happy to answer any of your questions. Thank you.”
Ecodesign & durability · EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Thank you, chair. And thank you to all the members who spoke to support this proposal. It's. The support is very welcome. And it helps us realise that we're going in the right direction. As I don't have much time, I will focus on 1 or 2 points. Well, a few points. One which was mentioned a few times and which is very important, is the importance of not touching on what already exists for SMEs. And I want to reassure you by saying that we have a specific definition for small mid-caps, which means a separate approach, a distinct approach compared to the SMEs, in order to avoid any confusion and to make sure that SMEs are their own distinct category. So everything surrounding the SMEs, which are at the heart of the Commission's proposals and policies, will not be touched and will remain unchanged. So the SMEs are not affected. Another point on thresholds perhaps. I heard support for our proposal, so thank you for that. But I also heard some questions. Why are the thresholds not higher, notably for the workers or for the business figures? I think we need to find a good balance between accompanying SMEs in their growth and the political goals in terms of exceptions, bearing in mind that if we have the thresholds raised to a high, too many other businesses will be affected.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Thank you very much. If it's all right, I'll speak French. That's good. So thank you. Thanks for the invitation to come along and present, uh, proposals for small mid-caps. Let's go to the first slide. I think we need to go back to the start. And why we've got this definition of small and mid-caps. And why we also proposed an The omnibus as the first way of implementing it. As you'll see on the screen, we've got the origins, the most recent ones, at least for this, setting out the reason why we need to define the small and mid caps. It was Mr. Letter in his report who first of all, recognized and recommended the definition of small and mid caps in a special way to recognize what the differences were compared with big companies and to better be able to understand, identify and respond to their needs in the single market. Then, in his report, Mr. Draghi went further still, setting out the fact that there is actually particular requirements for small and mid caps compared with SMEs and compared with larger companies, and that some of the provisions available to SMEs should be extended to SMEs, and the small midcaps should be able to benefit from the definition in order to have statistical data made available to them. So and and then the president, in a mission letter to Vice President Séjourné, asked him to lead this new small midcaps category and to evaluate in the existing regulation whether there was a need for a revision of this to be able to better target support.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “We look on the right hand side of this slide at the type of amendments that are required. Well, just as would be logical, we would extend existing SME mitigation measures or benefits to SMEs. And we would also hope to simplify measures that are beneficial to SMEs and SMEs. So there is a degree of simplification that's applied already to SMEs that would be transferred to SMEs. Now you'll be examining these proposals, and it's worth bearing in mind that there's a reference to the SMC recommendation Asian, either partially or in full when it comes to a definition of the scope of the amendments. Let me explain that sometimes in regulations, certainly for SMEs, you only look at the criterion of the number of staff headcount or only at turnover. And we proposed that the measures that exist for SMEs should be extended to small midcaps. And we've taken into account what already existed in the regulation, and we've applied that to small midcaps. So if, for example, the turnover wasn't taken into account in the legislative act in question, then it hasn't been taken into account for small midcaps. So there is a parallel structure in the approach taken for SMEs. The next slide. We have a working document in which we've looked at the impacts that the omnibus is likely to have in financial terms. So we've totaled it up and come to a figure of between 79 and €93 million per year.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “On the next slide, it was on this basis that we identified the principal justifications for a definition of these small mid-caps. There's no hierarchy between. These different arguments. But the first thing here was to avoid SMEs which grow falling over the edge of a cliff, where they end up not getting support, and to help them transition and develop to more towards a small mid caps. Secondly, helping small mid caps to keep the same beneficial environment as they benefited from when they were small and medium enterprises. So to help them through that transition and to give them better um. Incentives that's to say the SMEs to scale up and also for future proposals to take into account the fact that the Commission needs to have targeted policy support for SMEs. The next slide. Here we set out the definition that we have kept for small and mid caps. And it's in the middle of the slide. And this is a definition which has ended up as a recommendation adopted by the Commission on the 21st of May, 2025, at the same time as the single market strategy and the omnibus were adopted.”
State Aid · EU Single Market harmonisation