The Commission intends as a matter of urgency to complete its information in this respect and to pursue its policy aiming at encouraging the rapid roll-out of very high bandwidth Internet backbone throughout the European area.

8. Welcomes the proposal to review the Small Business Act in order to link it closely with the 2020 Strategy and calls on the Commission to take proper account of SMEs’ and micro-businesses’ crucial role in Europe; calls on the Commission to accelerate high-speed broadband links in EU regions in order to ensure maximum participation of SMEs in an increasingly digitised internal market; calls for an SME-friendly, quality-oriented and flexible EU patent system that encourages technological innovation and the emergence of new business models; welcomes the proposal to adopt an action plan for SMEs’ access to capital markets, such as Eurob ...[+++]onds, and calls for the promotion of innovative financing mechanisms aimed at innovative SMEs; welcomes the Commission’s plans to modernise the EU’s value-added tax system, with particular regard to the simplification of the rules concerning SMEs and the reduction of compliance costs; stresses the importance of implementing the proposals of the High-Level Group on Burden Reduction;

The Commission's first priority will be the swift and consistent implementation of the amended regulatory framework, together with greater co-ordination of spectrum use and, where necessary, harmonisation of spectrum bands, to create economies of scale in equipment and service markets.

M. whereas the rapid development of Internet services and content is creating a need for high-speed broadband connections,