International

The European Commission is constantly coming out with unnecessary regulations, most of them to do with promoting the interests of big corporations, or simply a matter of a bureaucratic mania for rules.

Yet when the interests of smaller firms are at issue, they are much more backward at coming forward. A year ago I wrote, together with one of the Christian Democratic vice-presidents of the European Parliament, a letter to the Commissioner with responsibility in this area making proposals for how to tackle acquisition fraud, which is a major problem for many small businesses. I have now received an answer from the Commission, stating that they hope to produce an initial report on the issue this autumn. The positive news is that the Commission seems likely to adopt my ideas, but why did all of this have to take so long?

While the voice of the big corporation rings loud and clear as a result of an army of professional lobbyists, that of the small firm gets far less of a hearing. While groups like our own Dutch organisation of small and medium-sized enterprises MKB-NL certainly do their best, their resources are limited and it is much more difficult for them to find the money needed for a successful lobby. It was for this reason that I demanded that the Commission give much more publicity to the regulations that in fact do exist which make it possible for small firms to reclaim expenses if, for example, they participate in Brussels’ advisory bodies, known as ‘expert groups’. Yet there is nothing at all on the Commission’s website to indicate that such reimbursement is possible.

This concerns a very real problem. Many small, independent firms are pestered by false bills, receiving, to take an example, an account for an advertisement which they have allegedly placed, or an announcement on a website. What’s actually going on is criminal activity: sometimes the ad or announcement simply doesn’t exist, in other cases it is hardly useful, even if the business person has in his or her haste agreed to a telephone request. Sometimes the criminals try it on with no agreement whatsoever. Most business people simply pay up and are ambarrassed later when they notice they’ve fallen for a ruse.

Many of these criminals work across frontiers, so it would not be sufficient to enable firms in the Netherlands alone to report instances of acquisition fraud. Every member state must have such a facility so that data can be exchanged and criminal organisations rounded up. It is also vital that public prosecutors give priority to this matter throughout the EU. Often only small amounts are involved, but many small amounts add up to a large sum. The fact that the Commission took a year to look into the issue and produce a report is unsatisfactory. They must once and for all learn to lend as close an ear to small firms as they do to major corporations.