Keith Nuthall The European Commission says it will subject any
future legislation affecting the IT sector to a detailed "business
impact assessment at the highest political level" to minimise the
impact of e-commerce growth.
Unveiling a new EU policy Erkki Liikanen, commissioner for
enterprise and the Information Society, said, "Entrepreneurship is
the key to the new economy. Those who take risks must be rewarded
and those who fail must be given a second chance. Unnecessary costs
put in the way of enterprise, whether by barriers in the internal
market, or by red tape, must be swept away."
The policy, dubbed Communication Challenges for Enterprise
Policy in the Knowledge-driven Economy, was welcomed by Philip
Virgo, secretary general of Eurim, the UK's European Infomatics
Market which aims to link parliament, industry, Whitehall and
Brussels. He said, "The most important thing is to let small
businesses know what is going on."
Virgo said proper consultation would improve the quality of the
legislation and that all tabled proposals should also be subject to
comment from business for eight weeks after they have been passed
to European and national parliaments.
Meanwhile, the commission has announced it will be allocating
extra funding for small and medium-sized enterprises in the form of
loan guarantees and support for risk capital provisions through a
new Multi Annual-Programme on enterprise and entrepeneurship
2001-2005.
Over these five years, the EU will provide up to 230 million
euros to develop small and medium-sized enterprises, with the IT
sector being a key priority.