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EU labour laws 'will not help UK SMEs'

Published On 2 April 2007 at 11:56:53

A group which represents the interests of the UK's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has called on the European Commission to reconsider its proposed changes to Europe's labour laws.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has said that the Commission's proposed changes risk creating a "one size fits all" system for all of Europe, which could potentially harm British SMEs.

While the EU's green paper pledges to attempt to reduce the burden of regulation on SMEs, the FSB said that the EU had failed in the past to deliver these promises.

"Decision-makers in the European Union need to bear in mind that if every small business in the EU created one new job there would be no unemployment in all 27 member states," said Alan Tyrrell, the FSB employment chairman.

"The Commission must ensure flexible labour markets are restored in the EU in order to achieve this. The current green paper misses an opportunity to slash unemployment in the EU."

Mr Tyrrell added that the new regulation proposals was "right to focus on reducing the administration burden for small businesses," but added "we have heard these promises before from the EU institutions".

 

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