UEAPME asks forum participants to consider SMEs specificity and rejects the idea of applying current CSR tools and approaches, such as exhaustive reporting, to SMEs because these tools were created for large enterprises and would be useless for SMEs.
Nonetheless, UEAPME also sees the forum as an occasion for SMEs to demonstrate their longstanding commitment to community work. UEAPME is particularly pleased with the commission’s emphasis on the exchange of experiences and good practices. This information sharing method will allow SMEs to point out to fellow forum participants the particularities of SMEs with regard to social and cultural sponsoring and community involvement.
UEAPME (Union Européenne de l’Artisanat et des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises / European Association of Craft, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises) is the employers’ organisation representing craft, trades and SMEs in Europe (EU and countries applying for accession to the EU). It represents, through 70 national and European sectoral federations, over 10 million enterprises which employ over 50 million people (EU figures, based on the membership of 22 national full member organisations: 8 million enterprises; 35 million employees). It is non-profit seeking and non-partisan, and promotes the interests of its member organisations at European level.