On the occasion of Europe Day, famous open days of the European institutions in Brussels, LHCH met the young and brilliant Laura Kancel doing her end-of-study internship in European and international law at European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME. This large federation courageously defends the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises throughout Europe. So, after the pandemic and during the conflict in Ukraine, what are the prospects for young and old SMEs?
LHCH: Could you first introduce yourself in a few words?
Laura Kancel: I am Franco-Belgian, but I spent most of my life in Paris where I obtained my law degree. After an Erasmus in Dublin, I decided to follow a master’s degree in European and International Business Law in Strasbourg, a city with a more European scope than Paris. To finalize this Master, I am doing a four-month end-of-year internship at European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME.
LHCH: What do you think is the biggest difference between what you learned in school and the skills you need for your current job?
Laura Kancel: First, the intensity of the tasks is different: keeping to fixed hours; manage pressure; to be confronted with a very changing reality… In short, another rhythm. On the other hand, I have my weekends free for my private life. In terms of the content of the tasks requested, I took legal studies, but here the work is in the field of lobbying. The approach is more political and focused on business management, on advice. A practical side that does not entirely correspond to the examples studied during my theoretical studies in law. I communicate with professionals immersed in their practical, day-to-day issues. I have to adapt but, at the same time, this internship is a perfect complement to my legal studies.
LHCH: What is your role precisely?
Laura Kancel: I provide legal support to my director, who is in direct contact with the lobbying side: meetings, conferences where urgent questions arise for entrepreneurs to solve… For example, when he comes to challenge a new instrument put in place by the Commission, an instrument that will affect SMEs, I will analyze the legality of this instrument (200-page files where I underline a few points) in the treaties already written in the past, in the regulations, etc. I will help him to legally justify his criticisms or political remarks, in the sense that they defend the interests of entrepreneurs. What can be done and what cannot be done.
LHCH: What are the figures for SMEs in Europe?
Laura Kancel: First, an SME is a business operating with a maximum of 249 employees. SMEs represent 99.8% of the number of companies on the European market; produce 53.0% of the added value generated by companies in this same market and absorb 65% of employees in the territory of the EU.
LHCH: Is this importance of SMEs in Europe properly recognized by the great machine of European institutions?
Laura Kancel: I sometimes see a feeling of lack of representation and consideration of their real difficulties among SMEs in the Union. The institutions, and this is perfectly understandable, are mainly interested in big companies (eg GAFAM) which will bring in more income and have a major impact on the European economy. And this, despite this 99% huge presence of SMEs! They therefore feel that their interests are being overlooked. At the same time, they are supposed to obey all the new binding rules, in particular, in environmental matters put in place to limit carbon emissions by 55% in 2030. This requires sometimes very expensive infrastructures that only huge companies can manage financially. without too many problems.
LHCH: In terms of the development of European SMEs, do you think they should focus more on the local or connect, collaborate with the SME park but at the international level this time? First, let’s take the example of young European start-ups.
Laura Kancel: Huge question. First of all, young people. I have just taken part in Europe Day and, above all, it is necessary to underline a lack of reference points and knowledge of the European machine among the young generations. On the other hand, there is sometimes a feeling of lack of recognition of their interests, which contributes to European identity difficulties.
LHCH: There would be a problem of communication, of information towards young people on the part of the European institutions? Europe Day is not enough.
Laura Kancel: It is one of the challenges, yes. We do not know enough that the single market is very developed. Take the example from Eastern European countries: access to these markets offers us many opportunities. Of course, depending on your products or services, such as the digital sector, countries outside Europe can also represent interesting markets (the EU sometimes struggles to keep up). But above all, the European market is an opportunity. I hope that the Union, in the future, will continue to invest in supporting young companies and in clearer and more accessible communication towards them.
LHCH: What is the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on European SMEs, after the covid pandemic?
Laura Kancel: Jean Monnet said very well: “Europe will be built through its crises and will be the sum of its responses to these crises”. But we are still waiting for concrete solutions for SMEs, especially those that have been impacted by these crises. It is good to think about an extension towards the East to support Ukraine but we must not forget the countries already members who also have their difficulties.
LHCH: Precisely in view of the current decisions taken by the Commission, the question of the functioning of the European machine comes up a little. What do you think of the criticisms of the lack of democratic transparency in the decision-making process at the executive level?
Laura Kancel: There is this impression linked, as I said, to a lack of information. The European Parliament has a lot of power: it passes laws! I often say to young people “Go vote in the European elections”. But where I would somewhat agree with this feeling of major influence of the Commission in decision-making, it is in the space of interpretation which exists between a new law (a rather long text) and, precisely , its implementation. In this space, decision-making powers may arise which would be perceived as going beyond the powers initially planned for the Commission. For example, Health during the Covid pandemic. It is true, we will say, that the population expected European decisions in the face of this major event, but in reality the institutions have tried to act within the limits of the fact that health does not fall within the competences attributed to the EU. For some people, this freedom of action may be misunderstood or misunderstood. I am also thinking of the idea of accelerating Ukraine’s accession to the EU, which caused a lot of reaction, before this question was formally and quickly put aside in the short term. There are the enthusiastic announcement effects and the whole (much longer) legal aspect of this question. The two should not be confused.
LHCH: But won’t these European decisions on energy independence from Russia, in the context of the war in Ukraine, have a profound impact on European SMEs at the financial level?
Laura Kancel: Yes, in the short and long term, these drastic sanctions, unfortunately, shut down the entire Russian market. The questions of imports, exports, are added to those of raw materials, etc. In addition, in Russian law, a specialist came to explain it to us, if contracts are not honored, from start to finish, financial and sometimes even criminal sanctions can hit European contractors. This is very serious. Indeed, European SMEs will certainly pay the price for these political decisions, in any case, if no aid is provided by the European Union. Of course, we must act in the face of Russian aggression. The question is complex since if nothing had been done on a European scale, other criticisms would have been launched! Let us react resolutely in this crisis, but let us also support the 99% of our European companies which are, I repeat, SMEs.
LHCH: As a young and brilliant legal specialist in matters of European and international law at the level of SMEs, in the end, are you optimistic or pessimistic?
Laura Kancel: There is a bit of both. I would say first of all that we have to see how the Franco-German axis will consolidate. Or not. After Merkel. The new Chancellor must make his mark and the Russian question is the first opportunity. In France, the re-election of President Macron represents an opportunity for the European Union. It must come out of this crisis stronger. We have achieved a standard of living, rights, ease of doing business at European level, freedom to travel, work or study within the whole Union… Let’s already preserve these achievements before wanting to extend competences of the EU.
