Following a vote in committees on Wednesday, EP co-rapporteurs issued the following statements.
LIBE rapporteur (regulation) Lukas Mandl (EPP, Austria) said: "We cannot easily influence the economic aspirations of China or the tariff-policies by the US administration. But we have to increase our European competitiveness via reducing our bureaucratic burden. With this piece of legislation, we are doing so for our European small mid-cap companies. To define it, Parliament wants to set clear thresholds that are higher than what the Commission proposed. For GDPR, we want to clarify that the status of sensitive data processing as high-risk should be assessed individually, and not through blanket assumptions. For future coherence, we want this definition of small mid-cap companies to be used in future related proposals."
ECON rapporteur Mariateresa Vivaldini (ECR, Italy) said: “Today’s vote marks a significant milestone for European businesses and workers. By facilitating easier access to capital markets, we are driving competitiveness and enabling companies to scale up effectively. Our ongoing commitment for EU companies is to reduce red tape and enable businesses to thrive and compete on the global stage."
ENVI rapporteur Niels Hansen (EPP, Denmark) said: "Our priority from the start of the mandate has been clear: fewer rules for more companies. And we are now delivering on this, also with broad support in Parliament which is important for predictability. It is equally important that the agreements we reach here are robust and balanced, so they can stand the test of time. With this proposal, we provide targeted relief for a number of industries by introducing the small mid-cap category. But hopefully, it will also become evident in future law-making that we always think small first and ensure that our SMEs and SMCs can thrive and grow under the rules we introduce."
LIBE rapporteur (directive) Kristian Vigenin (S&D, Bulgaria) said: "This proposal means that in future, mid-cap critical infrastructure companies in the fields of energy, transport, water, and more can also benefit from simplified SME requirements and extra guidance in fulfilling their obligations. We are taking the opportunity to formulate a clear and future-proof definition of small mid-cap enterprises, which can be used consistently going forward. This will become a reference point for EU law in the years to come, while preserving a supportive legal framework for small and medium-sized enterprises."
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