The European Union's ministers responsible for industry and internal market gave their blessing to the Small Business Act (SBA), a piece of legislation intended to unlock the potential of 23 million European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) However, they did not make clear how and when they are going to implement the dozens of initiatives previewed by the SBA, which are in the hands of EU member states. The informal Competitiveness Council in Jouy-en-Josas near Versailles, on 18 July, gave member states the first opportunity to react to and exchange views on the SBA, adopted by the European Commission, on 25 June. The debate, chaired by the French Minister of State for Business, Herve Novelli, and Minister of State for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, was organised around three issues fundamental to the SBA: the block exemption on state aid, the draft statute for a European private company and SMEs' access to finance and venture capital.
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