European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises or UEAPME is an umbrella group for associations of SMEs based in Brussels, Belgium. UEAPME represents the interests of European crafts, trades and SMEs at EU level. Its 67 member organisations from 34 European countries consist of national cross-sectorial SME federations, European branch federations and other associate members. Its members combined represent more than 12 million enterprises, which employ around 50 million people across Europe. UEAPME is a recognised European Social Partner.

UEAPME was founded in 1980. The first headquarters of the association were in Munich, Germany. After some years in Germany, the organisation moved its headquarters to Brussels, Belgium, where it was established in 1991 as an international not for profit association under Belgian law (AISBL). The acronym UEAPME was made official in this incorporation and stands for “Union Européenne de l’Artisanat et des Petites et Moyennes Enterprises”, i.e. the European Union of Crafts and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

The aims of UEAPME as written in its statutes are as follows:

As of 1998, UEAPME is a European Social Partner alongside BUSINESSEUROPE (previously UNICE), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). In 1996, the first negotiations between UNICE, CEEP and ETUC led to the conclusion of a framework agreement on parental leave. UEAPME challenged the validity of the directive implementing the agreement before the European Court of First Instance, claiming a violation of its own right to negotiate. The complaint was dismissed in June 1998, but the court case created political momentum for the opening of discussions with UNICE, according to the principle of mutual recognition. In November of the same year, the two organisations reached an agreement, further to which UEAPME became a recognised participant in the European social dialogue.

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