SME Connect

EU Legislative Interests

We seek to maximise the impact of SMEs on the EU level. SME Connect thereby aims to promote awareness of economic ecosystems, supply and sales chains, and the diversity of small and medium-sized enterprises. SME Connect has no common position on any legislation. All members in the SME Connect network are equal; there are no votes or majority decisions. The members have their own positions. There is no representative of SME Connect who can bring political opinions on regulations to the legislation / EU Institutions in the name of the network members. As such, SME Connect does not have a common position on legislation, no own position papers, cannot join hearings or working groups of the European Institutions, nor forward amendments to MEPs in the name of their members etc. Our members initially represent their own positions and interests and can organize themselves with like-minded partners to start initiatives, projects or working groups.This brings to a joint cooperation and a representation of common positions while allowing independence of activities and interests. SME Connect members are interested in all legisation or programmes, which have an impact on them. The following strategies and legislative proposals were discussed during our activities: EU SME Strategy / SME Relief Package Horizon Europe Future of Work EU Single Market / Internal Market policy Better Regulation / reduction of administrative burden EU Omnibus simplification packages / SME burden reduction EU competition policy / State aid rules EU Industrial Strategy / Competitiveness policy Digital Fairness Act (DFA) Consumer protection in digital markets / digital advertising / dark patterns Digital Markets Act (DMA) Digital Services Act (DSA) AI Act EU Data Strategy / Data Act / Data Governance Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) Digital Finance / FinTech policy Payment Services Directive / Regulation (PSD3 / PSR) Open Finance / digital payments Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Digital Euro European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) Digital Tax / digital economy taxation EU VAT Directive / VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) BEFIT / corporate tax policy Capital Markets Union (CMU) / SME access to finance Late Payment rules / payment practices European Green Deal Fit for 55 Package EU Emission Trading System (ETS) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Circular Economy / Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) EU sustainability legislation and reporting frameworks (including CSRD, CSDDD, EU Taxonomy, ESRS) Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) Digital Product Passport (DPP) Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (EmpCo / ECGT) Green claims / environmental claims rules General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) Product Liability Directive Product safety, sustainability and digital product regulation Water Policy Farm to Fork Strategy Food Safety legislation Food Labelling / Nutrition Score Contaminants Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) European Chips Act EU Defence Industrial Policy Global trade relations (including Mercosur, India, China, USA) EU-Africa Strategy Reconstruction of Ukraine Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Entrepreneurship, start-ups, self-employment and one-person companies

Communication Activities

1) Mainly public events (nearly 90% of the communication activities) -> https://www.smeconnect.eu/upcoming-events/ -> https://www.smeconnect.eu/past-events/ -> https://www.youtube.com/@smeconnect6610 2) Campaigns or publications are ad-hoc related to single network members of SME Connect and representing only the positions or targets of the specific group -> https://www.smeconnect.eu/cda/ -> https://www.smeconnect.eu/cda/disclaimer/ -> https://www.smeconnect.eu/digital-tools-programme-for-smes/ -> https://www.smeconnect.eu/boss-up/ -> https://sme4health.com/en/ 3) Social Media (as twitter, instagram, FB, linkedin) -> https://twitter.com/connectsmes -> https://www.linkedin.com/company/18831030 -> https://www.instagram.com/realsmeconnect/?hl=de -> https://www.facebook.com/smeconnecteu

Interests Represented

Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members

Member Of

SME Connect is a member of RKW Baden-Württemberg, a regional network supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with advisory, training, and networking services - https://www.rkw-bw.de/. Apart from this membership, SME Connect is not a member organization of any other associations, federations, umbrella organizations, networks, or comparable structures, and there are no further institutional shareholdings or formal affiliations with external organizations within the meaning of the Transparency Register. SME Connect provides administrative and organizational support services to members of the SMEC network. In addition, SME Connect responds to general orientation inquiries and promotes professional and structural exchange among network members. Furthermore, SME Connect facilitates dialogue between network members and relevant stakeholders from politics, public administration, business, and academia. This includes, in particular, the organization and moderation of events. No further coordinated or collective representation of interests is carried out. SME Connect does not provide substantive representation of its members. Each member is independently responsible for defining, communicating, and representing its own positions, including any lobbying or advocacy activities. Members or Special Advisors of SME Connect may serve in advisory capacities in committees or comparable bodies, for example in the field of entrepreneurship promotion. In such cases, they act exclusively in their personal capacity or on behalf of their respective association or organization and not as representatives of the SME Connect network. SME Connect has no authority to issue instructions to such individuals and does not exercise substantive control over their activities. Accordingly, SME Connect assumes no responsibility or liability for their positions, statements, or other activities. Within the network, two general guiding principles are acknowledged: adherence to the ethos of the “Honourable Merchant” and support for the European Union as such. These guiding principles do not constitute mandates, instructions, or coordinated political positions.

Organisation Members

https://www.smeconnect.eu/sme-connect/ Our Members are SME associations, general business associations, SME business projects and SME initiatives: AJC Transatlantic Insitute Alps-Adria Powerhub Bantani Education Burnout-Netzwerk Bund der Selbsständigen - Gewerbeverband Bayern e.V. Core Values Danish Entrepreneurs ERA – European Regions Airline Association European Academy of Regions European Economic Senate European Enterprise Alliance European Exhibition Industry Alliance European Movement Austria - Europäische Bewegung Östereich Federation of Catholic Family Associations (FAFCE) Food Supplement Europe Freelance Movement Free Trade Europe Fundacja Firmy Rodzinne Health Chain Institute Interessenvertretung 50Plus e.V. / European Association 50Plus e.V IMPACT FORCE (IF) Internationally United Commercial Agents and Brokers (IUCAB) IVSH - Industrieverband Schneid- und Haushaltwaren e.V. Junior Enterprises Europe (JE) Österreichischer Verein für Touristik - ÖVT RKW Baden-Württemberg Seldia – The European Direct Selling Association SME Global SME Europe SUN Business Network (SBN) Taxpayers Association of Europe Water Europe Women Entrepreneurship Platform (wep) ZPP – Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers https://www.smeconnect.eu/european-sme-business-club/ ESBC Members are Micro-, Small- and Medium-sized Entreprises (SMEs) with up to 250 employees and Small Mid-Caps (SMCs) up to 750 employees: Connecting Software GIS Aqua Austria GmbH IC & Partners LTW Intralogistics GmbH Manatex MCA GmbH Münzer Bioindustrie NHU Europe GmbH Probig GmbH Riko d.o.o. Srita Heide International THG GmbH UNIHA Wasser Technologie GmbH Wireless Connect Ltd. https://www.smeconnect.eu/friends-of-smes/ FoS Members are corporations, multinational companies, universities, think tanks and other interest groups: Alibaba Amazon Google Herbalife Kapsch Mastercard Meta Snapchat Uber

Additional Information

The purpose of SME Connect is to build networks and create a communication platform. SME Connect believes in the pragmatic dialogue with all constructive and pro-European stakeholders. SME Connect thinks in networks, in ecosystems for SMEs, supplier chains and in regions. The board members, as well as the advisors and experts, are supporters of the SME Connect idea. They can express their personal perspective and share recommendations to the network members, as well as take over the patronage of events, working groups or initiatives. They perform their honorary functions completely independently of the network members.