The Small Business Act for Europe - New Ideas to Boost SMEs

Studio 03-11-2008

Executive summary The Small Business Act for Europe was adopted by the European Commission in June 2008. It is an initiative by the European Commission to address the needs of Europe's small and medium-sized businesses, consisting of a set of 10 principles to guide the conception and implementation of policies at EU and Member State level. The aim of this study is to present the European Parliament with new ideas, food for thought and critical perspective for the Members of the ITRE Committee on the Small Business Act for Europe and the work leading to it, such as the Impact Assessment carried out in advance. The focus is put on three policy areas: • Cutting red tape and bureaucracy for SMEs • Improving access to finance for SMEs • SME participation in EU programmes. [...]