Brussels, 27 mar ( EFE).-the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Spanish are at the head of the European Union in efforts to be more “green”, or environmentally friendly with the environment, thanks to their efforts to make a better use of resources and the high number of jobs related to the medium environment generate.
The European Commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, recognized the strength of the countries of the Mediterranean basin – Italy, Spain and Greece – with regard to the investment to have a few more “green” SMEs and praised the efforts of these companies in Europe, although he stressed that there is still much to be done.
“is becoming more necessary to try to follow the path that takes us to the third industrial revolution.” If we want to be competitive in globalization, we need to innovate, and innovation means economy ' green ' “, Tajani said at a press conference.
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Spain is the fourth country in the European Union which has more “green” – part-time or full – jobs in SMEs, according to data from the latest Eurobarometer presented today by Tajani.
More than half (53%) of Spanish SMEs who participated in the survey have at least one person working directly with information, technologies or materials that preserve or benefit to the environment, a fact that only exceed Latvia (62%), Slovakia (57%) and Italy (55%).
In the whole of the Union, 37% of SMEs have at least a “green” full-time or part-time worker.
“are SMEs which create many jobs ' green ', unlike large firms: in 2012, 1 of every 8 workers in small and medium-sized enterprises had a job ' green ', representing almost 13 per cent of all employment in SMEs”, stressed the EU Executive in a note.
The European Commission forecasts that in the next two years, “green” jobs in SMEs will grow 35%.
Spain (with 87%) is one of the countries – together with Portugal (88%) and United Kingdom (83%) – where SMEs have taken more action to save energy, and is situated at the head of those who have taken actions to recycle more (93%), followed by United Kingdom (91%) and Ireland (83%).
In addition, Spanish SMEs are the second that expected to take further action in the environmental field in the coming years, 67%, just behind the United Kingdom (68%).
Despite these good data, Spanish SMEs include them more brakes to take environmental action found: 31% regrets the lack of expert advice and a 17%, certain legislative requirements were not updated.
Spanish SMEs were of the most affected also by the complexity of administrative procedures (32%) and found it hard to cope with the costs of these “green” measures (31%), among other barriers.
On the other hand, the European Executive stressed that European SMEs who bet on “green” are “strong at home, but weak abroad, since 87% of these companies operate in their national markets.
The Commission considers to be necessary policy measures to promote this “engine of growth ' green '”, such as financial incentives and tax or reducing the administrative barriers to encourage investment, and invited twenty-seven to reinforce the support they offer to SMEs.
In addition, Tajani said that in the next Community financial perspectives – budgets from 2014 to 2020 – could be an “intervention” to support this type of “green” initiatives. EFE
