In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, digital small and medium-sized enterprises are calling on the European Council to provide them with 50% of the funds for digital innovation in the EU.
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- 48 National Associations have co-signed an open letter sent to President Charles Michel and the European Council, ahead of the Digital Summit to be held at the end of March.
- The basic demand: 50% of the budget of the new multi-annual financial framework for digital innovation, to be given to SMEs.
- European SMEs, which make up 99% of all companies, will suffer a major blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
The situation is particularly critical. The Association of Innovative Applications Enterprises of Greece (SEKEE) joined his voice with the European DIGITAL Alliance SME (European DIGITAL SME Alliance) and 48 other national associations co-signing an open letter to President Charles Michel and the European Council, in view of the DIGITAL Summit to be held at the end of March. Through the letter, the Associations request that they be allocated higher funds from the EU budget 2021-2027.
Even before the pandemic threatened Europe’s economic stability, digital SMEs were facing serious challenges. IT and communications SMEs do not have sufficient resources to invest in research and development. In addition, they are affected by a significant shortage of digital skills, for which they compete with major tech companies, which only pay a small part of the taxes paid by SMEs. Despite the adversities, digital media are leading the digital transformation of Europe in all sectors.
The main demand of European SMEs is to receive 50% of the EU budget for digital innovation. This budget includes programs such as Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, Connecting Europe Facility as well as other financial tools. At the moment SMEs receive about 20% of these funds, while large companies, universities and research organizations receive the remaining 80%.
On the occasion of the letter to President Michel, >the president of SEKEE Pantelis Angelidis, pointed out that “the media are the driving force that will restart the economy of Europe, after the coronavirus crisis. SMEs make up 99% of all businesses and are the ones who will bear the brunt of the DIGITAL mechanism in Europe. DIGITAL SME Alliance, and the corresponding funds to the media”.
This text has been translated automatically from the original Greek. In case of any discrepancy or inaccuracy, the original Greek text prevails. The translation is provided for information purposes only.