EU Cuts Red Tape for Small Businesses

The European Parliament today voted in favour of a reduction of administrative burdens for small companies. Local MEP Emma McClarkin has campaigned for the removal of the requirement for small businesses to produce costly and unpopular annual accounts and is delighted that MEPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of this proposal.

Currently, small businesses that may only operate in a local town or across the region, have been bound by EU-wide legislation that requires them to produce all their business data in complex annual accounts and in double-entry book keeping. The Federation of Small Businesses has denounced this system as a business burden and believe it has restricted business growth and competitiveness.

Now, East Midlands MEP Emma McClarkin and her colleagues at the European Parliament have voted to allow national governments to decide which records small businesses need to produce.

Emma McClarkin comments from the Parliament in Strasbourg:

“This is fantastic news for independent small businesses across the East Midlands.

“The government should seize this opportunity to reduce the existing administrative requirements of small firms. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has estimated that there is the potential for 1,717,293 businesses to benefit from this move which is 66% of active UK companies.

”The European Parliament has taken the first step to help reduce the red tape of British businesses, let’s hope Labour don’t let us down by not implementing the changes.”