Europe has unified MedTech standards, but not the market, and certainly not the protection of our SMEs.

I asked Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux about this.

He chaired the MEDEF (French Business Confederation) from 2018 to 2023 and is now its honorary president.

He knows the employers' federation inside and out: what it can achieve, and what it cannot.

He is pro-European, and he acknowledges the system's shortcomings for our SMEs.

Europe has harmonized standards and regulations.

A medical device obtains the same CE marking in all 27 countries.

But hospitals purchase on a country-by-country basis, reimbursement is decided on a country-by-country basis, and there is no harmonization regarding taxation.

As a result, an SME obtains European authorization, then has to win back 27 markets one by one.

To help her, she's counting on her trade association, Snitem. And that's where I have my own question.

The French medical device sector comprises 1,500 companies, 93% of which are SMEs, according to Snitem's 2026 Panorama.

But on its board of directors, the heads of subsidiaries of large foreign groups hold a majority (62%).

We're glad these large groups are involved.

Their technologies treat patients every day.

But their mission is to sell their products and negotiate favorable prices, not to foster the emergence of a French champion to compete with them.

That's common sense.

Can Snitem defend both the giants and those who aspire to become giants?

Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux tells us what a trade association should do for its SMEs.

I've invited the Snitem president several times.

The invitation still stands.