Mr. Daniel Calleja Crespo:

I thank members of the joint committee who have raised many important points. I will start with the questions regarding access to finance and how to get new forms of finance. I believe it is dangerous to do this from the regulators or from government. This must come from the banking institutions, non-banking institutions and the business community and we are trying to encourage best practice. We have experience in all the 28 member states, where we are confronted with similar problems, and wish to enhance the exchange of measures that have been working in a particular country, such as certain forms of innovative financing, crowd funding or business angels. We also must look at the different legal frameworks and the exchange of information is very important because things which are done by one country may be producing good results. I can give examples of programmes in which countries have decided to institute a credit card for the entrepreneur, which will be facilitated under certain conditions. If such a measure is good, it can be adapted easily to another country and this is what we are doing through the small to medium-sized enterprise, SME, envoys. We also need to facilitate the SMEs getting together with the banking and financial institutions to identify the needs and the different products. This is about bringing them closer to people. While it is a challenge, I think our new programmes also will facilitate the covering of innovative mechanisms, although they must be submitted.

As for what the European Union could propose to enhance mentoring, in this regard we have a very positive impression of the Irish senior enterprise programme, which is led by Ireland with partners from the United Kingdom and France. It was very inspiring and members should know we wish to invite Irish experts to our next sessions. We will have interactive laboratories because we wish to launch programmes for mentoring towards the end of this year and next year. In this regard, Ireland has a good, positive experience and so we will be asking you to share it and on this basis to establish a European programme.

As for the questions on the two categories of economy and how we set advice, we try to do this through the country-specific recommendations. This is the importance of those recommendations. We analyse the situation in each country and ascertain what needs to be done if one seeks growth and then the Commission puts forward recommendations. These are not binding rules but are measures for those who wish to enhance growth in the coming years. In spite of the differences in the economy with 28 different member states, the problems of SMEs remain very similar. They are problems of being obliged to deal with bureaucracy, of access to markets and of access to finance. It is true that countries that are in a better economic position have fewer problems regarding access to finance but when one speaks to them, the banks will tell one there also are fewer projects. Consequently, the way we have developed is through working with the business associations to identify the needs and then, through the country-specific recommendations, discussing with the countries the way forward.

As for what can be done about scepticism, I am giving my personal opinion in this regard. I believe we must listen to the citizens and must respect what they say. I think the economic crisis has played a role. The Chairman mentioned there is a perception that many sectors of the population may have been let down because of the economic situation. We must improve the way in which we work and must listen to the message. We must be closer to the citizens and I believe we must work to find good solutions at European level to face their problems.

As for entrepreneurs, young people and the possibility of a guarantee fund for young people-----