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Economic Affairs Minister Altmaier said:
The 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe are particularly badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many healthy, profitable enterprises find themselves in a difficult situation due to the pandemic through no fault of their own. Self-employed persons, family-run businesses and their employees need our financial support and our solidarity, and they can rely on us. We’re not abandoning small and medium-sized enterprises in these difficult times, as we will continue to need strong SMEs in Europe in the future – entrepreneurs who contribute to making progress on the digital and ecological transformation thanks to their agility and ability to innovate, and create new jobs and training places.
Under the motto “Building a sustainable and resilient future together”, representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises, associations, European institutions and EU member states will be discussing the challenges SMEs in Europe are facing as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. The conference also seeks to provide participants with a strategic impetus for the future European SME policy. The aim is to lastingly strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises so that they can make full use of their potential to the benefit of the economy and society. Interesting input will also be provided by Nobel laureate Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz and political economist Professor Dr Maja Göpel.