Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Ms Nolan and her colleagues for attending the committee this afternoon.

Various slogans from Europe regarding SMEs are encouraging. While some might not be brilliantly thought out such as “Europe needs to think small first,” and “Europe needs to be big on big things and smaller on small things,” there has been a timely realisation that the real engine that can drive growth in Europe is small businesses. We know already that if every small business in Europe employed one more person, unemployment in Europe would be wiped out instantly.

The area in which Europe fails, however, is innovation, particularly compared to China and the United States. Europeans - it is not so much the case with Ireland - tend to be extremely risk-averse. The Commission has a role in encouraging people to set up their own businesses. While we may be critical of our friends in America, they have a business culture where failure is not seen as a mark against someone, as it is seen here.

I understand the Commission will give report cards or opinions on national budgets but will not necessarily change them. This will be interesting for the Commission in terms of how it strays into political choices in each country. It will be interesting to see how the German budget is marked. There needs to be a focus on the member states in budgetary surplus, particularly Germany. We all know how those member states that are in programmes or close to them with excessive deficit procedures will be marked. There are rules about those with surpluses too. If we want economic growth in Europe, the German surplus should be addressed.

Ms Nolan stated that the digital technology sector could be responsible for economic growth of 5%. We are hearing that the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, could provide growth of 2%. The President of the Commission, Mr. Barroso, said Europe was doing well, but it is not really. Growth levels are flat. The recent troubles with regard to taping of conversations and spying by the US on Europe must be set aside. This trade agreement is extremely important for the European and American economies. The issue of spying needs to be addressed in a different forum.