2 July 2008, Hotel Silken Berlaymont, Brussels

The CIAA Conference will offer an opportunity to look into a spectrum of issues key to agro-food SMEs. EU policies will, of course, be addressed. Some are specifically designed to support SMEs, such as the announced Small Business Act and the existing EU R&D programmes. Other policies, i.e. EU food legislation, build the key framework for SME activities. Agro-food SME’s and other experts from the sector will offer their experiences in addressing a large variety of business issues. The CIAA Conference aims not only at understanding competitiveness problems and challenges faced by European agro-food SMEs, but also aims at identifying possible solutions. At a moment when the High Level Group on the competitiveness of the agro-food industry is set in place, suggestions to adjust EU policies with a view to facilitate efforts for enhanced competitiveness of agro-food SMEs must be considered and can provide a positive contribution to the high level group debate.

As the largest manufacturing sector in Europe, with an annual turnover of 870 billion in 2006, the EU food and drink industry, which consists more than 99,1% of SMEs, is an important pillar of the European economy. These 280.000 SMEs employ 61.3% of all food and drink workers and generate 48.5% of turnover in the sector. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the European food and drink industry and the most important creators of new jobs and economic growth of the sector. However,

• Agro-food SMEs are very vulnerable and therefore particularly sensitive to inappropriate and burdensome regulations.
• Agro-food SMEs have to compete in an integrated food chain that is subject to considerable imbalances of bargaining power.
• Even though some SMEs are very innovative and spend a considerable amount on R&D, many agro-food SMEs are not able to invest enough resources in innovation.
• For agro-food SMEs that consider expanding their markets beyond Europe, the efforts that must be sustained and the difficulties encountered are discouraging.

In case these issues are of interest to you, join the CIAA Conference on the Competitiveness of European agro-food SMEs.

• http://www.ciaa.eu/smes2008