Training seminars in 11 Member States on the Environmental Compliance Assistance Programme  for SMEs (ECAP)

On behalf of the European Commission, DG Environment, the RSO SpA and Eco-conseil Enterprise SCRL perform 2009 project for the organisation of a second series of capacity building seminars in support of the Environmental Compliance Assistance Programme for SMEs (ECAP).

The workshops are organised in cooperation with national and/or regional and/or local authorities  and/or national business support organisations.

The 2009 project relies upon the materials, experiences and conclusions of the first series of seminars organised in 15 Member States (Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are key part of Europe’s economy representing 99% of all enterprises, producing 60% of value added and providing 75 million jobs. They also pose a significant threat to the environment, since they are responsible for 70% of industrial pollution and surveys show that only 30% of SMEs have introduced any practical measures to reduce their environmental impacts. The level of SMEs’ compliance with environmental regulation is low and enforcement is difficult.

Low environmental compliance by SMEs is caused by the lack of awareness of the environmental legislation and the environmental impacts of their own activities, the lack of capacities to tackle their environmental impacts, and the sometimes excessive administrative and financial burden of compliance. With the Environmental Compliance Assistance Programme for SMEs “Small, clean and competitive – A programme to help small and medium-sized enterprises comply with environmental legislation” the European Commission will provide a policy framework and ad hoc funding to assist SMEs in addressing all causes of low compliance.

SMEs should be able to find local experts who can answer their questions and tell them about their duties, and the opportunities related to environmental policy. This local environmental expertise for SMEs will help them to overcome the lack of know-how at the company level.

The capacity building seminars in the Member States  will be the first step towards building a network of environmental advisors in business support organisations at the regional/local/european level, such as business associations, Chambers of Commerce, Enterprise Europe Network and sectoral or district organisations.

Major tasks
• Capacity building workshops in MS with the aim to offer participants the comprehensive information on how to provide reliable and cost-effective assistance to SMEs in the implementation of ECAP
• Development of teaching material and elearning tool (web based training including the major findings of the workshop)