Parliament played host to SME leaders as they voted on recommendations for the upcoming EU Council and asserted their position as the lifeblood of stimulating growth.

European enterprises take over Parliament

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They shook hands, exchanged business  cards and took over the hemicycle,

800 European small  and medium enterprise leaders

came together for the European Parliament  of Enterprises day.

If you work in Romania or in France,  it is necessary to have the same rules,

the same taxes  and the same level of wages.

90% of global economic growth  is generated outside Europe’s borders.

Faced with this challenge,  Small and medium business leaders

Konstantinos Michalos is President  of the Athens Chamber of Commerce.

He has come to send out  a clear message to the EU.

SMEs now, as far as the Greek economy  is concerned, are its backbone.

And we need to enhance  growth in these companies.

the major problem faced at the moment  because of this restrictive policy

that we have throughout the EU  is the lack of liquidity.

We need to find ways of filtering  the necessary bank liquidity

into successful  Small and medium-sized enterprises.

Internationalisation, skills, finance  and energy were the debates of the day.

The 800 business leaders  tried their hand at the role of MEPs.

Do you believe that the EU should protect  it’s industry more strongly

against trade distortion  and unfair competition?

We will give this vote to the next  Council on 23 October -

they will get the votes from here  and they will know

how we the entrepreneurs  think about the future of the EU.

One distinguished guest was  the President of the EP.

If Europe is to have future, a good future,

we must make sure that the innovative  and sustainable products

of the 21st century are designed  and manufactured in Europe.

They represent 99% of all enterprise and  employ almost 70% of Europe’s workforce.