SME Policy in Europe.

This paper explores what small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policy is about, how it is pursued in Europe, and the differences between the European countries. According to the author, the overall objectives of SME policy are to create employment, foster economic growth, improve competitiveness, and regional/structural development. The SME-related policy pursued in most European countries involves a collection of various objectives and fields of economic policy rather than a conceptual framework. The author discusses the various approaches of SME policy that take place in the following European countries: Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, and Belgium. The author also discusses the variation of instruments used in the following fields of SME policy: start-ups, finance, exports and internationalization, information, research and development, labor, and red tape.