The European Commission has created tools for analysis and monitoring, but is also committed to collecting data on the prevailing conditions in the loan and equity finance markets in order to make European financial markets more responsive to the needs of small businesses.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 99% of firms in the EU. They provide some 67% of all jobs in the EU.
Given their importance to the EU economy, it is vital to understand the real situation that SMEs are facing when trying to access finance.
The lack of internationally agreed indicators and the scarcity of comparable data make it difficult to accurately assess the situation for small businesses. Therefore, the Commission has created the three following tools for analysis and monitoring:
