An unambitious Small Business Act

The business newspaper Les Echos analyses the EU Commission's new Small Business Act, a guideline for the development of Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). "The European definition of SMEs covers a very broad spectrum of enterprises, ranging from companies with hundreds of staff to very small firms with just a few employees. ... However this step by the European Commission shows little ambition. It confines itself to simplifying the rules and procedures because it believes SME policy should remain primarily a national matter. ... Simplifying the procedures seems to be a useful goal, but it could prove inappropriate if it fails to take into consideration the extreme diversity of the SMEs. The Small Business Act will only be effective if it accounts for all of the legal forms and particularities of these firms as socio-economic entities."

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