FFII UK

SME associations call on Commission to fix ICT Task Force weaknesses

July 4th, 2006

Brussels, London, Berlin, Warsaw, Ljubljana, 4th July 2006 — In an open letter to the EU Commission, six small business associations have called on Commissioners Verheugen and Reding to modify their plans for a task force, designed “to define the future EU policy in ICT”.

The proposed task force mainly consists of large IT firms, such as IBM, Cisco, and Intel, and the undersigning associations accuse the Commission of ignoring the fact that 80 percent of the European IT sector, by value, consists of small and medium-sized firms, who are unrepresented in this task force but must bear the brunt of the policies defined by the EU Commission.

Pieter Hintjens, President of FFII, an association which represents 3500 European IT companies, states: “The idea that we can create EU-wide policy and legislation without input from a broad base has been discredited. The EU must become more inclusive and less elitist if it is to survive the challenges of public opinion in the decades ahead. We are giving the Commission the opportunity to work with the majority now, rather than face mass opposition later when it presents yet one more set of special-interest proposals that damage the market.”

David Ramsden, Chairman of the Professional Contractors Group PCG, a cross-sector representative body that represents the interests of 12000 freelancers in the UK points out: “Many of the EU’s most businesses in the ICT sector are also the smallest. The companies represented by PCG exemplify the significance of small firms to this area of the economy. It is vital that they are fully represented on any Task Force or other body relating to the sector.”

Other groups expressing their concern included the 600 German companies of PatentFrei.de representing 600 German companies, the Polish Software Market Association CEA-PME, an umbrella assocation of SMEs in Brussels; the Slovene Software Developers Assocation KODA.

Full press release and more details available here.

Entry Filed under: News, FFII (General)