1. UEAPME General Assembly Tours, 30 October 2008 Guido Lena, UEAPME Director Sustainable Development Unit European Sustainable Development Policy Priorities for Crafts and SMEs

2. The main issue 08/09 : SCP Action Plan Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan includes: Overarching strategy + Revision of EMAS, Eco-Label, Eco- Design Directive, Labelling Directive and Greening of Public Procurement (part of EU strategy to fight climate change) Main challenge (overarching strategy + revision Eco-Design) : New higher minimum environmental and energy requirements for products to be allowed on the market (1st barrier) A new general labelling system (A, A+, B…): only the products with the highest labels can: receive European subsidies + be subject to public procurements!(2 nd barrier)  New manufacturing philosophy!  Danger: lots of SMEs out of the market!

3. Solutions proposed by UEAPME  Create the right framework for SMEs: ?Preliminary economic and social impact assessments, preliminary information, thresholds, exclusions, technical and financial supports, long implementation terms, simpler implementation…  Through a new version of ECAP (Environmental Compliance Action Programme) linked to a strong SBA  How to achieve this result: ?Already met Commissioners (Verheugen, Dimas) and very high Commission’s officials ?Now action on European Parliament and Council starts  Joint efforts needed!