​On 1 December 2017, members of the European Committee of the Regions held a debate with European Commissioner for Competition, Ms Margrethe Vestager. During the debate, Mr Tadeusz Truskolaski, Mayor of Białystok particularly emphasised the promotion of small- and medium-sized enterprises and their importance the European economy and regional development.

“The topic of competitiveness is of paramount importance for the EU. We all have an interest in the success of European businesses. Ultimately, this success will translate into higher quality of life and the well-being of all citizens. However, these economic achievements will not be possible without our efforts to include start-ups and scale-ups," Truskolaski noted.

Referring to his opinion, adopted by the European Committee of the Regions' July plenary session, Mr Truskolaski stressed that, from the local and regional perspective, support for start-ups and scale-ups is an important factor in increasing the number of jobs in the regions. "Working with partners from European, national, regional and local public authorities is of great importance if we want to create conditions for start-ups to scale-ups to work properly," he added, noting that "financial and legal differences in Member States represent a serious barrier to the development of innovative businesses.”

Mr Truskolaski also highlighted the benefits of creating a European venture capital fund, enquiring whether the Commission would envisage creating its regional offices.