代写留学生作业-留学生作业-代写作业-代写MBA作业。Observatory of European SMEs 2002
SMEs in focus Main results from the 2002 Observatory of European SMEs
2
This brochure presents some highlights from the reports published in 2002 in the framework of The Observatory
of European SMEs and submitted to the Enterprise Directorate-General of the European Commission by:
KPMG Special Services and EIM Business & Policy Research in the Netherlands
in co-operation with:
European Network for SME Research (ENSR), and Intomart
For more information on the current series of reports in the framework of The Observatory of European SMEs,
see the website of the Enterprise DG at http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise.
The reports cover the 18 countries of the European Economic Area (EU-15 plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)
and Switzerland, which is included at the expense of the Swiss government. Together they are indicated
as Europe-19.
This brochure has been prepared by Ms. Jacqueline Snijders and Mr. Rob van der Horst from EIM Business &
Policy Research, the Dutch ENSR partner.
The brochure does not express the Commission's official views; neither the Commission nor the consultants
accept liability for the consequences of actions taken on the basis of the information contained herein.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
ISBN 92-894-4878-4
© European Communities, 2002. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
3
Preface
By Erkki Liikanen
European Commissioner responsible for Enterprise
and Information Society
Enterprises are at the heart of the strategylaunched by the European Council in Lisbon in
March 2000. Reaching the objective of becomingmore competitive and dynamic in the knowledgebased
economy, capable of sustainable growth,more and better jobs, and greater social cohesionwill ultimately depend on how successful enterprises,and especially SMEs are.
A key instrument for the study of issues of interestto small and medium sized firms in Europe is the
Observatory of European SMEs. Now in its sevenedition, the Observatory has contributed vigorouslyto the European debate on SMEs, their role in
the economy and the policy issues that they face.
Through these years the Observatory of European
SMEs has developed into a valuable tool for analysingthe current situation of SMEs. The Observatorynow constitutes a unique reference document forresearchers, economists, policy-makers as well as
SMEs themselves.
The 7th Observatory, which this report is summarising,is composed of nine reports (including the
present) addressing important themes and policy
issues. Issuing the Observatory as a series of reportshas resulted in a more focused approach than beforeand this has helped increase the visibility andpolicy relevance of this instrument.
I hope that you will find that “SMEs in focus” aswell as the companioning reports are interestingsources of information and valuable contributionsto the European debate on SMEs.
Erkki Liikanen
4
Introduction
The reports of the Observatory of European SMEsprovide an overview of the current situation in theSME sector in Europe through statistics on mainindicators. In addition, Observatory reports cover arange of thematic issues. This brochure presentssome highlights from the reports published in2002 in the framework of the Observatory and
submitted to the Enterprise Directorate General ofthe European Commission.
The highlights in this brochure are gathered in twobroad themes:
- SMEs: the real giants of the European economy
- SMEs: drivers of competitiveness and two
narrow themes:
- Administrative burdens
- Corporate social responsibility – CSR
In each section a reference is made (like Source: 1)to the specific Observatory report providing therelevant information. The numbering of the reportsis given in Background information on the last
page.
Table 1: The basic facts about SMEs and large enterprises, in Europe-19, 2000
SME Large Total
Number of enterprises (1 000) 20 415 40 20 455
Employment (1 000) 80 790 40 960 121 750
Occupied people per enterprise 4 1 020 6
Turnover per enterprise Million € 0.6 255.0 1.1
Share of exports in turnover % 13 21 17
Value added per occupied person €1 000 65 115 80
Share of labour costs in value added % 63 49 56
Source: Estimated by EIM Business & Policy Research; estimates based on Eurostat’s SME Database. Also based on European Economy, Supplement A, June 2001 and
OECD: Economic Outlook, No. 65, June 2001.
SMEs: the real giants of the
European economy
93% of all European enterprises have less
than 10 employees
There are 20.5 million enterprises in the European
Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, providingemployment for 122 million people. Some 93% of
these enterprises are micro (0-9 employees), 6%are small (10-49), less than 1% are medium sized(50-249) and only 0.2% are large enterprises(250+). Of all these enterprises nearly 20 million
are established within the European Union.
Two thirds of all jobs1 are in SMEs, so one third ofall jobs are provided by large enterprises. Within
SMEs, total employment is split up roughly equallybetween micro enterprises (employing less than 10employees), and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The size-class distribution of employmentdiffers, however, between countries. For example,
1 In the private non-primary sector
the share of micro enterprises in total employment
is 48% in Italy, and no less than 57% in Greece.
On the other hand, the share of large enterprises in
total employment is over 45% in Iceland and the
United Kingdom.
(Source: 2)
The average European enterprise employs 6
people
On average, an enterprise in Europe – even including
all European giants such as Royal Shell, Siemens,
Nokia or PSA Peugeot Citroen - provides
employment to 6 people; the average for SMEs
only is 4 people. However, this varies between 2
people in micro enterprises, and over 1,000 in
large enterprises. Between countries, there are
large differences as well. On average, an enterprise
has 2 occupied persons in Greece and 3 in Italy
and Liechtenstein, as against 10 in Ireland, Luxembourg
and The Netherlands.
Most jobs in Europe are created by micro
enterprises
On balance, large enterprises lost jobs between
1988 and 2001, while employment in the SMEsector
increased. As can be seen from Figure 1, in
5
the early years this growth was concentrated in
micro and small enterprises, as employment
growth in medium-sized and large enterprises only
started in 1997. In 2001, employment growth
slowed down. Current estimates show that this
occurred both in SMEs and large enterprises, but
the slow down is slightly more pronounced in
large enterprises.
Over the years most jobs in Europe were created
by micro enterprises, whereas large enterprises lost
jobs.
(Source: 2)
Figure 1: Employment growth by size-class, Europe-19, 1988-2001
90
95
100
105
110
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Index, 1988= 100
Micro Small Medium-sized Large
Source: Estimated by EIM Business & Policy Research; estimates based on Eurostat’s SME Database. Also based on European Economy, Supplement A, June 2001
and OECD: Economic Outlook, No. 69, June 2001.
In Europe enterprises are smaller than in the
US and Japan
With an average size of 6 people, European enterprises
are relatively small: an average Japanese enterprise
employs 10 people and an average American
enterprise 19 people. Therefore SMEs account
for only 33% of employment in Japan and 46 % in
USA, whereas SMEs in EU-19 account for 66 % of
total employment.
Within Europe, differences in enterprise size between
countries can be linked to structural, institutional
and historic conditions. In addition, in
countries with high per capita GDP, like Germany,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands, average enterprise
size tends to be higher, while conversely,
countries with relatively low per capita GDP (e.g.,
Greece, Portugal, Spain) tend to have low average
enterprise size. Differences in per capita GDP however,
do not fully explain differences between
Europe-19, Japan and the USA. Instead, differences
in economic structure explain these differences
better, such as: the presence of a large domestic
market in which social and cultural diversity is
much less than in Europe. Furthermore, European
markets seem to be more fragmented than the
American and the Japanese ones. Also, in Europe
more barriers against mergers and acquisitions
exist, as in many countries, enterprises have several
ways to protect themselves against hostile takeovers.
(Source: 2)
6
Table 2: Structure of non-primary private enterprise, total Candidate Countries, 1999
SME Large Total
- Enterprises (1 000) 5 795 10 5 805
- Total employment (1 000) 21 075 8 210 29 290
- Occupied persons/enterprise 4 837 5
Source: Estimated by EIM Business & Policy Research from various national and international sources.
One third of SMEs strive to grow
The ENSR survey2 showed that just over half of all
SMEs have ambitious aims: they strive for growth
(29 %), higher profits (9 %), innovativeness (7 %)
and higher quality (7 %). The remaining enterprises
are pre-occupied with their struggle to survive
(20 %) or hope to consolidate the business
(21 %).
Looking at the different size classes, it seems that
more micro enterprises are concerned with a
struggle to survive and relatively more large enterprises
pre-occupied with a growth strategy. Also
country differences are visible. In Italy, Greece,
Ireland and the United Kingdom a relatively high
number of SMEs (34 %-41 %) want to grow,
whereas in Austria, Finland and Germany this holds
only for some 15 % of the SMEs.
(Source: 1)
SMEs also play a crucial role in the Candidate
Countries
Enlargement will be a very important political and
economic development in Europe in the coming
years. In the Observatory, estimates of the number
of enterprises and employment by industry and
size-class have been made for 13 Candidate Countries3.
It is estimated that in these 13 countries almost
6 million enterprises are active, providing
employment to almost 30 million people. As in
Europe-19, most of these enterprises are microsized.
The size-class structure of employment is on
average slightly more geared towards small enterprises:
SMEs make up 72 % of total employment in
the Candidate Countries, while the corresponding
figure is 66 % for Europe-19. This difference is
concentrated in micro enterprises, as they provide
2 In the Observatory project two telephonic surveys were held among
almost 8,000 SMEs in all 19 countries and all sectors: the so -called ENSR
Survey. Results of the surveys are included in the Observatory reports
‘Highlights from the 2001 Survey’ (Source 1) and ‘Highlights from the
2002 Survey’ (Source 8). See the last page.
3 The 13 Candidate Countries are: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Turkey.
40 % of total employment in the Candidate Countries,
and only 34 % in Europe-19.
(Source: 2)
The average enterprise in the Candidate
Countries is smaller
Also general indicators (e.g. the average number of
occupied persons per enterprise) point at an enterprise
sector that is on average smaller scaled in
the Candidate Countries compared with Europe-
19.
Large differences between the average size of enterprises
in the Candidate Countries exist. In the
Central and Eastern Economic Countries (CEEC’s)
- especially the Baltic countries - average enterprise
size tends to be well above the average for the
Candidate Countries and the European Union. The
group of Candidate Countries consisting of three
Mediterranean countries: Cyprus, Malta and Turkey,
which are not former plan economies, show
great resemblance to southern European countries
in the EU (Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal), as
both groups of countries are characterised by a
large presence of micro enterprises.
(Source: 2)
The average new entrepreneur is 35 years
old
Enterprise creation processes and chances of survival
after the start-up phase strongly depend on
the ‘profile’ of the entrepreneur. The average age
of new entrepreneurs in Europe-19 is about 35
years; this shows that the decision to found one’s
own business is frequently taken some years after
completing education and acquisition of some
specific know-how as employee and/or manager.
Entrepreneurs in services (especially business services
and high technology) have completed higher
levels of education than those in manufacturing; a
lower educational level still predominates in construction,
transport and in hotel and catering. In
general, new entrepreneurs continue the same
activity they were already engaged in before they
start their own firm.
7
(Source: 5)
Well educated starters use more support
services
All Member States have set up measures to stimulate
entrepreneurship. These measures are varied
and consist on the one hand of the provision of
loans and grants and on the other of the provision
of support services such as technical, legal, managerial
advice and information centres for start-ups,
the provision of training to potential and new entrepreneurs
and market research.
Apart from specific cases (mainly related to economic
activity, such as high-technology and
crafts), the analyses show that grants are still relevant
as an external source of funding for the startup.
Support services are generally considered to
have a positive effect on enterprise creation. However
the use of these services is, among others,
determined by the skills of the entrepreneur: the
higher the educational level of the new entrepreneur,
the more he/she makes use of support services.
(Source: 5)
One out of five SMEs is run by a woman
More than 29% of all entrepreneurs are women.
Their enterprises are mainly active in retail and
business and personal services (24 %-29 %)
whereas just one in ten enterprises in transport and
communication has a female owner.
There are large country differences. In France, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and
Switzerland over a quarter of SME entrepreneurs
are female, whereas in Greece, Austria, the United
Kingdom and Denmark the number of female entrepreneurs
is rather low (14-16 %). There are indications
that female entrepreneurs are slightly
more focussed on growth of the enterprise than
male entrepreneurs.
(Source: 1)
The majority of SMEs get the bank loans
they need
Relations with banks are very important for SMEs.
The majority of SMEs (65%) is satisfied with the
services they receive from their bank and in general
SMEs do not very often change banks; during
the last 3 years only 12% changed their bank account.
The main reasons mentioned for change
were: more favourable conditions with the new
bank and better service provided by the new bank.
Of those SMEs that needed a loan in the last three
years, almost all (84 %) obtained the loan. Almost
40% of SMEs did not have a need for a loan in the
last three years. Around 12% of the SMEs reported
that they did not get the loans needed; the banks
refused to give loans to SMEs for the following
reasons:
- The enterprise could not provide enough
collateral; this holds in particular for the micro
and small enterprises (23%);
- The bank was not satisfied with the performance
of the business (7%);
- The bank was not satisfied with the information
provided (5%).
(Source: 8)
8
SMEs: drivers of competitiveness
More competition leads to more international
contacts
What role do SMEs play in international trade? In
general, the smaller the enterprise, the smaller its
geographical market and the smaller the chance
that the enterprise is involved in export. SMEs in
Europe-19 export only 13 % of their turnover,
while large enterprises sell 21 % of total turnover
abroad. As SMEs also supply goods and services to
large (exporting) enterprises, the indirect exports
of SMEs are significant.
Due to the European integration, competition has
grown, not only on the international market but
also on national markets. Over the period 1995-
2000 half of the SMEs faced an increase in competition
from domestic enterprises and around 22%
faced more competition from foreign enterprises.
Only a very limited number of SMEs report decreasing
competition (from domestic enterprise
5 %, from foreign enterprise 2 %).
Due to this increase in competition almost one
third of all SMEs have increased the number of
international business contacts during this period,
ranging from 30 % for micro enterprises to 50%
for medium-sized enterprises. Compared with
1999 figures, in Spain, Greece, UK, Liechtenstein
and in the Netherlands the increase in business
contacts was considerable.
(Source: 1)
Customer service and quality are the major
competitive factors
The majority of SMEs compete on service provided
to the customer and on the quality of their products
and services; see Figure 2. Price is mentioned
as third most important competition factor.
(Source: 1)
Figure 2: Factors on which SMEs consider themselves competitive
Source: : ENSR Survey on SMEs, 2001.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Price Quality Customer service Location
9
Lack of skilled labour is the main obstacle
for SMEs
In 2001 the four major business constraints according
to SMEs were:
1. Lack of skilled labour: 20%
2. Access to finance: 13%
3. Administrative regulations: 12%
4. Infrastructure: 6%
Compared with 1999 more SMEs now have problems
with finding labour. The share of SMEs facing
problems with ‘access to finance’ and ‘administrative
regulations’ remained the same. Whereas it is
important to notice that the number of SMEs facing
constraints related to the ‘infrastructure’ has
increased.
(Source: 8)
SMEs are important contributors to European
competitiveness
High-tech SMEs are creating and implementing
technological innovations and are therefore contributing
to increasing living standards, employment,
productivity and competitiveness. High tech
SMEs have a huge potential for contributing to job
creation and income growth. However, in comparison
with the US, Europe is lagging behind with
respect to growth of high tech SMEs.
Although the weight in terms of number of enterprises
and employment is not overwhelming, significant
spill-over effects to the rest of the economy
exist. Some 750,000 European SMEs had been
active in typical high-tech industries in 2000, employing
approximately 5 million people, i.e. 4 % of
total employment. Most of these enterprises
(45 %) are active in a single service industry,
namely computer & related activities.
(Source: 6)
University-business interaction is only successful
when based on personal relationships
Knowledge institutes including universities hold an
enormous stock of knowledge, but their importance,
as a source of know-how for smaller hightech
enterprises, is very limited. The reason for the
poor university-business interaction basically lies in
incompatible structures on both sides; different
aims, culture, etc. Besides, smaller enterprises often
lack the financial and technical resources required
to set-up co-operation projects with universities.
Success of university-business co-operation is often
a result of personal relationships. In addition the
Observatory shows that science parks function as
important facilitators and stimulators for establishing
collaboration with knowledge institutions.
(Source: 6)
Networks are indispensable for innovation
Not only is co-operation with knowledge institutes
and universities important, but also networking, in
a broader sense, is a necessity for high-tech SMEs
to implement innovation projects and to collect
the required information and know-how. Networks
make it possible to share knowledge, costs and risk
and they contribute to business success. Networking
is common among high-tech companies in
Europe, although it is oriented mainly towards
customers and suppliers. In particular, smaller innovative
enterprises are not very enthusiastic about
co-operation. They fear a loss of autonomy.
The following barriers, specific to smaller high-tech
enterprises, to networking can be identified:
- Small enterprises, in contrast to large ones,
often have a short-term perspective and expect
quick and concrete results. Research
networking however is in general rather
time-intensive and results are not immediately
visible. To reduce efforts co-operation is
kept simple and built with only very few
partners.
- It is difficult to find a balance between confidentiality
(hiding information) and sharing
knowledge and information, which is essential
for successful networking.
- Governments try to stimulate co-operation
and networking between SMEs and large enterprises
as well as with knowledge institutes.
One of the vehicles used is regional clusters.
In the Observatory, 34 regional clusters all
over Europe have been studied and compared.
(Sources: 3 and 6)
Difficult for high-tech enterprises to find financial
sources
For high-tech enterprises it is not so easy to get
access to finance. These enterprises are characterised
by a number of specific features, which make
it more difficult for them to access finance: high
risk projects, long development periods of the
products and services and availability of intangible
rather than tangible assets. The following categories
of high-tech SME face most problems in getting
finance:
- SMEs in countries with a bank loan culture;
10
- SMEs with projects combining new technologies
and new markets at the same time;
- SMEs with very complex and risky innovation
projects.
As expected, financing problems are far more striking
in the start-up and early development stage of
the enterprise.
Taking into account these characteristics it is obvious
that debt/bank financing appears to be less
appropriate, whereas private equity and venture
capital constitute a more relevant financing option.
However, after steady increases in European venture
capital investments, 2001 brought a marked
reduction, especially in the high-tech sector.
Moreover, it seems that venture capitalists are reluctant
to invest in the early stage and the amount
of capital required by very small high-techs is often
too small for venture capital companies. Thus, venture
capital remains an option only for a small elite
of enterprises.
(Source 6)
The number of SMEs with access to the
Internet has grown rapidly
SMEs use the following forms of ICT:
- Mobile phones: 83%
- Internet: 74%
- E-mail/Electronic data Interchange: 71%
- Stand alone PCs: 69%
- Network of PCs: 52%
- Own website: 43%
- Card swipe: 34%
In 2002, 74 % of SMEs had access to the Internet.
This may seem rather low, however there is a clear
size class pattern: micro 73 %, small 88 % and
medium-sized 97 %. Access to the Internet has
grown considerably since 1999 and the differences
between sectors have decreased. Countries also
show a less varied pattern than in 1999. Several
countries are catching up fast. High growth from
2001 to 2002 is reported from Denmark. The performance
of Greece, from a very low ranking in
1999 to a seventh position in 2002 well above the
average (83 %) is impressive. Portugal and France
are staying behind in this respect (respectively 43
and 45 %).
(Source: 8)
One out of four SMEs use the Internet to get
information from government
Enterprises have to communicate a great deal with
governments or government agencies. ICT solutions
can make these communications easier. This
applies especially to the use of electronic data interchange
or EDI with governments.
In Figure 3, four specific forms of EDI with governments
have been distinguished: e-mail contact,
getting information from the Internet sites,
downloading forms from the Internet sites and
submitting requested information to the government.
These forms of EDI are not yet widely used
to communicate with governments. Within the
group of enterprises that have the capability of
using EDI to communicate with governments (i.e.
74% of all SMEs), 20-40% are using EDI. Mediumsized
enterprises are clearly ahead of micro and
small firms.
(Source: 8)
11
Figure 3: Percentage of SMEs using different forms of Electronic Data Interchange with governments, by
size class (SMEs with an Internet and/or e-mail connection)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
E-mail contact with government
Getting information from Internet
sites of Government
Downloading forms from Internet
sites of Government
Submitting required information to
Government
None of these
0- 9 10- 49 50- 249
Source: Weighted data 2002 ENSR Survey on SMEs.
Administrative burdens
Red tape in the recruiting process has increased.
In the framework of the Observatory the administrative
burdens on SMEs related specifically to the
recruitment of employees have been studied. Despite
all actions in the Member States resulting
from the Luxembourg Job Summit in 1997, almost
two thirds of the SMEs in Europe-19 indicate that
the administrative burdens in this field have increased.
Furthermore these administrative burdens
substantially affect the recruitment decisions for
31% of the more than 20 million enterprise in
Europe-19.
Administrative burdens do not primarily stem from
the number and nature of obligatory administrative
procedures in terms of "form filling", delivery
of the requested information and contacts with
authorities but rather from the preparatory work,
the information collection and the complexity and
obscurity of the (entire) employment legislation.
12
Figure 4 Number of administrative procedures when recruiting the first and an additional employee
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Netherlands 7/4
Belgium 6/3
Liechtenstein 6/2
France 4/4
Luxembourg 4/3
Spain 4/3
Denmark 4/1
Italy 3/3
Finland 3/2
Germany 3/2
Switzerland 3/2
Portugal 3/1
Norway 2/2
Iceland 2/2
United Kingdom 2/2
Austria 2/1
Ireland 2/1
Greece 2/1
Sweden 1/1
Before the start of work After the start of work
Number of administrative procedures when recruiting …
… the first employee … an additional employee
Source: Analysed by IfM Bonn on the basis of ENSR-partner contributions.
The analyses show that administrative burdens
cannot be significantly reduced by concentrating
just on one or on a small number of regulatory
fields. Relieving SMEs from administrative burdens
requires a holistic approach. Threshold levels in
employment regulation are useful instruments in
order to relieve smaller enterprises from administrative
burdens.
In addition it has become clear that SMEs’ perception
of administrative burdens depends, to a large
extent, on whether the entrepreneur is familiar
with the relevant regulations and on personal
characteristics such as educational and professional
background.
(Source: 7)
13
Corporate social responsibility
- CSR
Half of the SMEs are involved in external
social activities
SMEs not only play an important role in job creation
and economic development but also in the
social and environmental society. The Observatory
provides useful information and inputs from an
SME perspective for the on-going European debate
on the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility. Half
of the European SMEs are involved, to different
degrees, in external socially responsible causes. The
larger the enterprise, the more it is involved in
CSR: ranging from 48 % amongst the micro enterprises
to 65 % amongst the small and 70%
amongst the medium-sized enterprises. The involvement
does not significantly depend on the
sector in which SMEs operate.
(Source: 4)
Most CSR activities are occasional and not
related to the business strategy.
Support to sporting, cultural and health/welfare
activities are the most common external community
activities developed. Support to sporting activities
is the preferred activity amongst SMEs in all
enterprise sizes and in nearly all the countries. Environmental
activities not related to the firm’s own
operations are much less frequent.
Most of SMEs’ external socially responsible activities
are occasional and also unrelated to the business
strategy. The main reasons for involvement in
CSR in sequence of importance are:
- Ethics
- Relations with community
- Customer loyalty
- Relations with business partners
- Employees’ satisfaction
- Economic performance
- Code of conduct
- Third parties’ pressure
(Source: 4)
Table 3 Main benefits derived from the enterprise’ involvement in external social activities by enterprise
size, percentage of enterprises
Enterprise size
Variables 0-9 10-49 50-249 Total
Improved relations with the community/public a uthorities 28 30 31 28
Improved customer loyalty 35 41 36 35
Improved relations with business partners and investors 15 22 26 16
Improved employees’ job satisfa ction 17 19 26 18
Improved economic performance 15 15 18 15
Other benefits 7 4 3 7
No perceived benefits 28 22 24 27
Do not know/No answer 1 3 3 2
More than one answer allowed.
Data referred to SMEs participating in social activities.
Source: ENSR Enterprise Survey 2001.
Differences between North and South exist
At country level a North-South European divide
can be observed: The highest share of SMEs involved
in external social activities are found in the
northern (Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Norway)
and the central European countries (i.e. Austria,
Liechtenstein). In most of the southern countries
(Spain, Italy and Greece) as well as in France and
the United Kingdom social involvement is less
common amongst SMEs. The reason for the different
attitude may include different cultural traditions,
different expectations from the general public
on the enterprises’ involvement or different
public welfare traditions.
(Source: 4)
14
Figure 5: Classification of European countries according to the percentage of SMEs involved in external
socially responsible activities
³ 68%
62 -67%
50 -61%
£ 49%
Source: ENSR Enterprise Survey 2001.
15
Background information
The Observatory of European SMEs
One of the major conditions for the development
into a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
economy is availability of information for the major
stakeholders: policy-makers, researchers, economists
and business including SMEs. In December
1992, DG Enterprise of the European Commission
established ‘The Observatory of European SMEs’ in
order to improve the monitoring of the economic
performance of SMEs in Europe and to provide the
necessary information to stakeholders all over
Europe.
The reports of the Observatory provide an overview
of the current situation in the SME sector in
Europe through statistics on the number of enterprises,
on total employment and on production by
size of enterprise. In addition, the Observatory
reports cover a range of thematic issues. These
issues are now selected on the basis of the Multi-
Annual Programme 2001-2005.
The research for the Observatory reports is carried
out on behalf of the Enterprise Directorate-General
of the European Commission by ENSR, the European
Network for SME Research, co-ordinated by
EIM Business & Policy Research from the Netherlands
in a consortium led by KPMG Special Services
from the Netherlands.
The results are mainly based on existing national
and international research, compared and analysed
through desk research, econometric modelling and
forecasting, in-depth-interviews and annual representative
surveys among over 7600 SMEs in Europe
(The ENSR Survey on SMEs).
The European Network for SME Research (ENSR) is
a network of institutes specialised in SME research.
The Network covers a broad spectrum of qualitative
and quantitative research on SMEs consisting
of macro oriented, meso and sector studies, as well
as micro economic and small business management
research. For more information: [email protected]
In the framework of the Observatory the following
reports are published in 2002:
1. Highlights from the 2001 Survey
2. SMEs in Europe, including a first glance at
EU Candidate Countries
3. Regional Clusters in Europe
4. European SMEs and Social and Environmental
Responsibility
5. Business Demography in Europe
6. High Tech SMEs in Europe
7. Recruitment of Employees: Administrative
Burdens on SMEs in Europe
8. Highlights from the 2002 Survey
The reports can be downloaded or ordered at the
website of the European Commission
(http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise).
Previous Observatory Reports
In the period 1992-1999 six reports of The European
Observatory for SMEs were published (comprehensive
volumes of 360 to 480 pages each). Each report gives an
overview of the structure and developments of the SME
sector and looks into a range of specific areas.
The report published in July 2000 (6th Observatory Report)
focused for instance on the markets for products
and services, labour market issues, access to both finance
and Community programmes, electronic commerce, and
associations and foundations in the social economy. It
also contained in-depth studies on vocational training for
SMEs and new services.
The 6th Observatory Report was published in English,
French and German. The report is currently out of print,
but a limited number of copies are still available. Please
send your request to: ENTR-COMPETITBENCHMARKG@
cec.eu.int
The first five Annual Reports are still available and can be
ordered at: EIM Business & Policy Research, PO Box
7001, 2701 AA Zoetermeer, The Netherlands. Phone: +
http://www.1daixie.com/liuxueshengzuoye/For a description of the activities of the Enterprise DG, see the website of the European Commission:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/enterprise. For more information on the Observatory of European SMEs, including how to
access or order the reports, see: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/analysis/observatory.htm. Information
on previous reports of the Observatory may be found there as well.