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As a President of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce and Honorary president of SASME (Serbian Association of Small
and Medium Enterprises), M.Sc Milan Janković had fruitful talks and exchange of views on mutual cooperation with Secretary
General of UEAPME (European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), Mr. Andrea Benassi and Director of
NORMAPME, Mr. Loucas Gourtsoyannis.
SASME is a member of UEAPME, umbrella association of SMEs and craft shops in the EU that advocates the interests of European
crafts, trades and small and medium size companies. UEAPME membership includes 83 national, cross-sectorial and other
associations that provide support to SMEs (close to 12 million SMEs, employing around 85 million workers). UEAPME is a
recognized European social partner and acts on behalf of crafts and SMEs in the European social dialogue and in discussions
with the EU institutions.
The main goals of this organisation are as follows:
• Monitoring the EU policy and legislative process and keeping its members informed on all matters of European Union policy of relevance to crafts, trades and SMEs.
• Representing and promoting the interests, needs and opinions of its member organisations.
• Supporting the idea of European integration and contributing to European co-operation.
As a recognised representative of SME sector in Europe, UEAPME acts as an ’agenda setter’ in the area of European SME
policy. It has direct role in all EU policies that affect SMEs. This is made possible by establishment of direct links
and contact with the EU administration and strengthened by its status as a social partner.
UEAPME is continually making efforts to ensure that interests of SMEs are considered in all legal matters that could
affect their operations. Some of the key legislative areas in which UEAPME plays an active role are economic and fiscal
policy, employment policy, social policy, enterprise policy, research and development, innovations, internal market.
UEAPME analyses the role of SME sector in EU economy and challenges they face. On the basis of this analysis, UEAPME
identifies the ways in which SMEs can adapt to those challenges. The sectoral policy of UEAPME is defined by the experts,
national SME associations is specific sectors, and representatives of the European SME associations which are members of
UAPME. There are around 20 sectoral associations that are either full or associate members of UEAPME.
One of them is NORMAPME, part of UEAPME oriented towards protection of SME interests in the process of certification and standardisation.
Implementation of EU standards is crucial for survival and operation of businesses. Education about use of new technologies and
assistance in implementation of harmonised standards will be the focus of services offered by the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce to its
member companies.
In addition to exchange of views on current economic topics, the course of mutual economy related activities and actions on
the road of the EU integration of Serbia were also discussed with the European Parliament members.
Mr. Paul Rübig, European Parliament member and ITRE coordinator (Industry, Research and Energy), who plays an important role
in EU harmonisation, expressed his desire to see Serbia become member state as soon as possible. Mr. Rübig remarked that
business community must respect priority measures and regulations, and that only strong and competitive Serbian companies
that implement EU harmonized standards, can support the integration process.
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