Power in Numbers

Individual SMEs may think they are too small to influence or comment upon European Union strategy and directives. However, in 1996 an organisation was set up to help them do just that. Today, NORMAPME represents the views of a staggering 12 million European SMEs to Brussels policymakers - with very positive results. Now, Oracle and NORMAPME are working together in the definition of standards for e-business that SMEs can easily adopt.

There is an old saying that there is power in numbers. It was on this basis that lobbying organisation NORMAPME was formed in 1996, with the express objective of representing the views of Europe's small and midsize enterprises in matters of standardisation.

Very often, small and midsize businesses can find themselves severely financially challenged by the need to conform to the standards laid down by the European Union, which can sometimes seem more geared to the interests and budgets of large enterprise. NORMAPME's aim is to represent the voice of the SME community to the standards-making bodies, ensuring that the SME viewpoint is communicated in a fair and adequate way. In total, it represents the interests and views of 77 local SME organisations from 31 European countries, that represent around 12 million SMEs overall.

Activities

NORMAPME carries out its activities on three separate but interlinked axes:

• providing information about standardisation to SMEs
• soliciting SMEs opinions on proposed standardisation initiatives and representing these views to the appropriate standards-making body
• assisting standards-making bodies to draw up standards that adequately represent the interests of SMEs

Information about proposed new standards is disseminated by NORMAPME to SMEs through its website at www.normapme.com as well as through the organisation's newsletter and via specific seminars and circulars.

NORMAPME's 12 million members (made up of members of NORMAPME's constituent industry and regional organisations, such as Eurowindoor, ECAP, EBC and CINET) all have the opportunity to formulate proposals for the improvement of EU standards and directives. NORMAPME regularly organises expert discussion groups in which these proposals are discussed before a representative position is drafted. Once the position is drafted the request or proposal is promoted to the appropriate standards-making body both directly and through the media by means of articles and press releases.

In recent times, NORMAPME has been instrumental in influencing the EU's e-Europe strategy 2006-2008, and is also currently working with the German government to assist in the drawing up of the country's e-business strategy to 2010. It has also undertaken specific projects such as the rolling out of an informational portal for SMEs in the new EU accession countries and the development of a food traceability framework for the food industry.

Oracle and NORMAPME

Oracle has recently joined forces with NORMAPME to promote the benefits of using e-business technologies and standards among SMEs in Europe. "Both NORMAPME and our sister organisation UEAPME see great potential for small enterprises in e-business as one of the best ways of optimising business processes and lowering business management costs," says Freek Posthumus, eBusiness project manager, NORMAPME.

It is a position with which Oracle entirely agrees: "Adopting standardised technologies and processes for e-business not only helps SMEs to trade more easily with larger organisations, but also demonstrably provides them with competitive advantage in terms of lower administrative costs and better ability to respond to changes in the marketplace," says Anthony Peake, senior director of SME marketing for Oracle EMEA.

The partnership will see Oracle and NORMAPME roll out a number of events and seminars over the next six months, to inform SMEs of the benefits of adopting an e-business strategy. Details will be made available in this newsletter. Additionally, Oracle will work with NORMAPME to represent the views of SMEs in the formulation of standards for system interoperability and for eHealth, among others.

Get Involved

To find out more about how you can get involved with the lobbying activities undertaken by NORMAPME, visit www.normapme.com or send an e-mail to info@normapme.com