European SMEs under Pressure: Annual Report on EU Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises 2009.
This report was prepared by EIM Business & Policy Research with financial support of the European Communities, under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme 2007-2013.
The purpose of the SME Performance Review (SPR) is to provide  information on the situation of SMEs and SME policy in the EU, as a contribution to evidence-based and effective (SME) policy making. It was launched in 2008, the same year as the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) (1). The SPR follows the logic of the SBA’s 10 principles – Entrepreneurship, Second Chance, Think Small First, Responsive Administration, Finance, Public Procurement and State Aid, Single Market, Skills and Innovation, Environment and Internationalisation – which were developed to guide the conception and implementation of policies. As a consequence, the SPR may therefore also facilitate the policy dialogue between Member States and the European Commission as regards the SBA implementation. [+]