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Horizontal organisations representing SMEs in EU policies: |
The Voice of Crafts and SMEs in Europe: |
The European association of young entrepreneurs: |
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The European tourism industry is a sector that is dominated by SMEs, with more than 99% of companies employing less than 250 people and approx. 94% employing less than 10 employees. On average, tourism SMEs in Europe counts 6 employees/workers (micro-enterprise). In many countries they account for a significant part of the GDP. 6.5% of the total European SME turnover is accounted by tourism SMEs. Tourism is a very complex issue as it involves many activities and is quite different from one European country to another. NORMAPME is active in the technical committees directly related to tourism at European and international level, i.e. CEN TC 329 and ISO TC 228. In addition, we follow some other TCs which may influence the tourism industry, such as CEN TC 136 (sports, playground and other recreational equipment). The most crucial issues for European SMEs, though, are for the time being discussed in ISO TC 228. NORMAPAME and UEAPME created also a joint Tourism Working Group that adopts common positions and discusses issues important for SMEs. ISO TC 228 - TOURISM AND RELATED SERVICES In 2004, the European Commission asked European Standardisation Organisations to present a work programme concerning services backing the mandate M340. In this framework, AENOR made a proposal on tourism services, which was rejected later on by CEN. The Spanish standardisation body sent it to ISO, where it was accepted. In April 2005, ISO decided to undertake some work on the basis of the AENOR proposal. The initial scope of the ISO Technical Committee 228 was broad and included the whole tourism sector. At the kick-off meeting, which took place in October 2005, NORMAPME was accepted as liaison member. According to a 2005 NSF/ANSI ( US standardisation body) position, it seems obvious that Americans will promote certification. Certification would be an unbearable burden for European SMEs in the tourism sector. Unfortunately, despite an active campaign we did not manage to reduce the scope of this TC. ISO TC 228 proposed to create a working group on spas. After consultation of the members (about 30 persons) of NORMAPME ISO TC 228 mirror committee that took place in July 2006, it appeared that the term "spa services" was too wide reaching (as it goes much beyond health cures which aim at treating illnesses) and standards on "spa services" would have an impact on SMEs. In August, the creation of this working group was approved and thanks to Ms Uccella's participation in the first meeting, the scope of the working group was limited to medical spas. Ms Uccella has been replaced by Mr Vanik when she resigned in January 2008. The work of ISO TC 228 tends to expand in various sub sectors that can be detrimental to SMEs under the impulsion of the Spanish delegation. It remains crucial for SMEs to exclude Hotels and restaurants from the scope of the Spa standardisation activities. Recently, a "new work idea" appeared as security in tourism. It has been launched in ISO TC 223 but may be endorsed by ISO TC 228. This possibility may lead to such non-sense like a security check before entering the Eiffel Tower or the Acropolis. It goes without saying that all SMEs working thanks to the attraction of such sites may suffer from this possible standard. Thanks to NORMAPME action with the support of National delegations, this idea was abandoned at the last ISO TC 228 plenary meeting in Turkey in 2009. ISO TC 228 WG 4- GOLF SERVICES
Normapme supports the new adopted work items on tourist guide qualification standards. We follow the CEN TC 329 activities and make sure that SME interests are taken into account. CEN TC 136 - SPORTS, PLAYGROUNDS AND OTHER RECREATIONAL FACILITIES Tourism SMEs were extremely concerned by the work on operational safety requirements in swimming pools as it could affect daily activities of small hotels. Normapme is represented in CEN TC 136 to ensure that the requirements of this standard are not burdensome for small hotels. Unfortunately, the standard on operational safety for swimming pools was adopted in 2008 after a harsh campaign. We will continue our activities in this Technical Committee to limit the negative impact of consultants and certifiers may have in it for SMEs. NORMAPME has also supported the creation of a CEN TC dedicated to family swimming pools whose producers are to their overwhelming majority SMEs. Our activities regarding swimming pools will be both in the CEN TC 136 WG 8 and in this new CEN TC ( CEN TC 402) to protect and to defend both SMEs as swimming pools operators (e.g. hotels) and as manufacturers. CEN TC 217 SURFACES FOR SPORT AREAS
The priority of TC 217 is to standardise a series of test methods to determine the desired properties that are important to the performance of sport surfaces and to the protection of those performing on them. Current discussions focus mainly on tests concerning leaching, VOC's and dust. In addition WG6 - Synthetic turf areas aims at incorporating elements of environmental compatibility into the CEN Standards currently being produced and future standards to be produced. Our expert Mr Frank Kempeneers actively participates in the work of WG6 TG1 'Environmental Aspects' which debates on a standard on leaching test for artificial turf systems. There are various national standards in this area and the incorporation of particular tests in the final document and the definition of monitoring frequency for each compartment involved in testing can strongly affect SME companies from this sector. The aim is to get a standard which adheres to national environmental legislation, if possible, and to minimise the frequency of sampling and testing to the limits of scientifically acceptable schemes in order to keep the EN norm affordable. Due to the wide range of costly tests on environmental and health issues involved, there is a potential risk of significant costs for SMEs. During the meetings of the TG1 various tests were endorsed by the national delegations. Our expert backed by NORMAPME presented a position paper regarding a Dutch research on health and environmental aspects of rubber infill from recycled tires. The document concluded that the leaching of all components listed in the Building Materials Decree would not exceed environmental limit values, with an exception for zinc. However, currently there are no tests or research available that would include the impact of aging and weathering and as a result the existing tests may not actually reflect reality. Therefore, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands decided to conduct lysimeter tests to check again the leaching of zinc in a more comprehensive way. The final results of the tests indicate that there is no danger for environment because of the leaching of zinc. Nonetheless, the applied testing method needs to be validated so that it could be put in the standard. Validation of testing requires a lot of preparatory work and is quite expensive. Therefore NORMAPME expert tries to create an inventory of costs for relevant round-robin testing before starting to look for the funds. In addition to this activity we also follow the documents distributed in CEN PC 366 - Tyre recycling working on the standardization of the materials produced in the tyre recycling cycle and - at the same time - of their utilization in specific end uses market sectors (applications). Luckily, for the time being there are no major concerns for us related to the developments in this Project Committee.
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