The European SME Envoys Network is a mouthpiece and advocate of the interests of the approximately 23 million SMEs in Europe. The high-level SME Envoys from the various Member States, and representatives of European SME associations, have been working since 2011 to promote the interests of SMEs in the EU and its Member States.
The European Action Programme contains over 100 recommendations for action by the EU and the Member States. These range from support for the building of broadband infrastructure to boosting the spirit of entrepreneurship in schools. Further to this, the European SME Action Programme includes a total of around 50 model examples of good practice in various countries. One of these model examples in the field of mobility and cross-border training is the BQ-Portal. The EU SME Network calls for establishing an EU-wide electronic qualifications platform to support the exchange of information with the BQ-Portal as a model.
The network of SME Envoys was set up in 2011 as part of the review of the Small Business Act (SBA). Each EU country has nominated a national SME Envoy to complement the role of the EU SME Envoy who chairs the network. The group of SME Envoys makes up an SBA advisory group that promotes SME friendly regulation and policy making in all EU countries.