Initiative to improve SME Statistics Making European SME data more meaningful for Policy making SBS Working Group Meeting Luxemburg, 20 November 2014 Christian WEINBERGER, Senior Adviser - Entrepreneurship & SME Policy European Commission - DG Enterprise

Setting the Scene

85% of new jobs are created by SMEs So creating more start-ups will create more jobs But what if … … all these SMEs are created as Spin-offs of large companies

We have 23 Mio SMEs in Europe So creating one new job in each company would easily create 23 Mio new jobs But what if … … all these SMEs are One Person Companies

SMEs have 65 Million employees This represents 1/3 of the whole EU labour force (188 mio) In the sectors covered they employ 68% of the sector workforce Does that mean that the number of SMEs in the non-covered sector is as high as in those covered ?

Need to provide impact assessment data Some EU Directives only apply to legal companies e.g. the accounting directive How many of the 23 mio SMEs have to follow the requirements of the accounting directives?

The requirements

Size categories

How to account for partners

Implement the official EU SME Definition 1 Implement the official EU SME Definition 1.a full respect of the employee brackets of the definition 1.b taking into account partner enterprises 1.c respecting the limits for turnover and balance sheet total

remove the current limitation to certain NACE sections (only B to J, L, M and N) and extend the coverage to ALL business sectors in particular - the financial sector, - health & social sector, - education & training sector, - agriculture, forestry and fishery - and others

Introduce the additional size class OPE of one-person-enterprise, i. e Introduce the additional size class OPE of one-person-enterprise, i.e. companies with no full time permanent employee except the owner "non-employer businesses"

distinguish between the legal form of companies of a) personally held companies such as - self-employed, - sole proprietors, - partnerships, etc. and b) separate legal entities (separate from the owner(s)) like - Ltd, srl, GmbH, - share companies (SA, AG, PLC) - co-operatives etc.

Make data available not only at Member States level but also at regional level (NUTS2)

5 dimensional Matrix - size class (one person, micro, small, medium, large)  - part of an enterprise group or not - activity (NACE) - legal form - territory (MS, region)

The SME Envoys The 28 national SME-Envoys (incl. HR) EU SME-Envoy

Role and Tasks Inside Outside watchdog function (Think Small First) burden reduction ( SME Test) Co-ordination of Public Services Identify and spread Good Practices Build links Outside Dialogue with SME organisations Inform and Communi-cate with "SME Public" Focal point for com-plaints & suggestions Collect Feedback on new initiatives & legislation Facilitate Access to SME Programs & Support

SBA SME Portal SME definition SME Test SME Envoys http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/sba_en.htm SME Portal http://ec.europa.eu/small-business SME Performance Review http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/performance-review/ SME definition http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/ SME Test http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/sme-test/index_en.htm SME Envoys http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/sme-envoy/ndex_en.htm Entr-sme-envoy@ec.europa.eu