asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they intend to exempt businesses employing fewer than 20 people from the forthcoming European Small Business Act. [HL3641]

The Small Business Act has been welcomed by UK Government. It will not be a legislative measure—its aim will be to set principles and outline measures to improve the framework conditions for European small businesses, while taking full account of their diversity. It will cover a range of policy areas; for example, the impact on small business of EU regulations, facilitating access to finance and helping them enter new markets, including the single market.

Small businesses regularly say that their key concern is the disproportionate burden of regulation on them and so our priority is to see a bold set of measures within the Small Business Act to reduce regulatory burdens coming from the EU. It is as part of this “better regulation” element that we are pressing the European Commission systematically to consider, where possible, exempting small businesses with fewer than 20 employees from EU regulation, as we plan to do for domestic regulations. Where exemption is not possible, either for legal or policy reasons, we suggest the Commission should work with small firms to design specific approaches for them, including simplified enforcement and effective guidance.

We continue to work with the Commission and other member states in developing a Small Business Act that will support Europe's small businesses and encourage their growth.