Brussels seems far away, especially when it comes to the process of making EU regulations. The image of lobbyists and bureaucrats in smoke-filled backrooms might come to mind. But, did you know that you can be part of law-making in the EU? And did you know that is a standard step in the process of creating European law? In this post you will learn a bit about it, and than you will be asked to do your part in drafting the new EU Small Business Act.
Let’s start with a crash course in EU regulation making. The European Commission – you know: #TeamJunckerEU soon – initiates laws. They will propose a law, that will be checked by the European Council (our Prime-Ministers and such) and the European Parliament (which we elected in May this year). There likely will be some negotiations over the exact text of the law, and when all three agree, a new law is made, and EU Member States need to implement it.
Before the European Commission initiates laws, they always hold a public consultation. And this is where it becomes interesting. This public consultation is really public, and anybody who is either an EU citizen or a representative of an organisation working in the EU (NGOs, corporations, startups) can contribute. So, if there’s an area that is especially important to you, you can directly influence what the new law will be like. How’s that for direct democracy?
Anyway, soon the European Commission will propose new regulation for small and medium enterprises: an upgrade of the EU’s Small Business Act (SBA). The focus is on making life easy for entrepreneurs. As explained above, the process of upgrading the SBA starts with a public consultation. The European Commission wants to know what entrepreneurs want and need from this new Small Business Act. To share your vision, ideas, needs and such, you can fill in this special survey they have created. Please do so. It’s important. For your startup, but also for all other startups; in StartupDorf, and in the rest of the EU.
Direct link to the survey: EUSurvey