On 3 December 2009 CIBP, together with EACB and UEAPME, will hold its Second European Forum "Co-operative Banks and SMEs" in Brussels.

Building on the success of the 1^st European Forum, EACB and CIBP in partnership with UEAPME, organise this year the 2^nd “European Forum Co-operative Banks and SMEs” on 3 December 2009 in Brussels with the aim of establishing a permanent and open dialogue between co-operative banks, SMEs, European and national institutions and all relevant stakeholders.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the driving force and key players of the European economy and will play a crucial role to lead the economic recovery. Due to their long and strong relationship with small and medium-sized enterprises as their main customers, co-operative banks will stand right beside and will remain committed to supporting and financing SMEs and the real economy.

In order to assess together the state of play and to address current and future challenges ahead, this Forum will be held in the form of round-table discussions between different stakeholders dealing with small and medium-sized enterprises.

Main Objectives of the Forum

The organisers of the Forum and their partners aim to identify shared concerns with respect to facilitating the access to finance for SMEs. One of the main objectives of the round-table discussions is to contribute to the development of a better framework and to a better EU policy for SMEs.

The Forum will not only make all relevant stakeholders aware of the present situation and of the burdens and challenges that exist for SMEs, but rather shall help to define the respective duties and responsibilities of each stakeholder and to share best practices in order to work out solutions to overcome existing difficulties.