The aim of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry is to promote (smart, sustainable and inclusive) growth-friendly framework for European enterprises, the Europe 2020 agenda. Of particular interest to us is the platform to: “encourage the growth of SMEs”. The EU SME dedicated portal notes that: 99% of all European businesses are, in fact, SMEs (<250 employees, €50M sales and <€43M balance sheet). They provide two out of three of the private sector jobs and contribute to more than half of the total value-added created by businesses in the EU. Moreover, SMEs are the true back-bone of the European economy, being primarily responsible for wealth and economic growth, next to their key role in innovation and R&D. And guess what, thousands of these EU SMEs are US owned!
What is even more intriguing is that nine out of ten SMEs are actually micro enterprises with less than 10 employees. Hence, the mainstays of Europe's economy are micro firms, each providing work for two persons, in average. This is probably one of the EU's best kept secrets!
OK, now how do we use this and what can the EU do for your business? Well try the European Small Business Portal, it can help you to get finance, partners, go international (intra EU), the portal gathers together all the information provided by the EU on and for SMEs, ranging from practical advice to policy issues. We are users and advocates, it has helped us. So go check it out, and start using some of that support today http://ec.europa.eu/small-business/index_en.htm
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