WRITTEN QUESTION No. 553/96 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Rules governing SMUs
Date: 1996-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: European Investment Bank, Greece, State aid, aid to undertakings, balance sheet













EUR-Lex - 91996E0553 - EN






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91996E0553

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 553/96 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Rules governing SMUs  


Official Journal C 217 , 26/07/1996 P. 0068 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-0553/96 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (11 March 1996)Subject: Rules governing SMUsThe Commission is reported to have set the number of employees that must be employed by an undertaking if it is to qualify as a SMU, a move which has been attacked by Greek entrepreneurs in this sector.- What criteria did it use for this purpose?- What rules apply in the EU Member States?- What action does the Commission intend to take to address the problems which SMUs in Greece face as a result of the adoption of this measure?Answer given by Mr. Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (29 April 1996)On 3 April 1996, the Commission adopted a recommendation ((OJ Nr. L 107, 30.4.1996. )) addressed to the Member States, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) concerning the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).This recommendation provides a comprehensive framework for all the measures taken by the Member States, the EIB and the EIF to the benefit of SMEs. It also applies to Commission programmes and Community legislation on SMEs.The definition contained within the recommendation is based on the combined criteria of the number of employees, turnover, balance sheet total and independence. In fact, this definition takes over a number of features of the Community framework for state aid to SMEs ((OJ C 213, 19.8.1992 (currently being revised). )) which Member States are already obliged to comply with in their relevant financial mechanisms. Setting the thresholds for turnover and balance sheet total, the Commission relied upon various surveys carried out by Eurostat ((Enterprises in Europe - Third Report. )), and on an internal Commission database containing the harmonised annual accounts of thousands of enterprises in the Community.Under the terms of the recommendation, an SME is currently defined as employing fewer than 250 people and having a turnover not exceeding ECU 40 million or a balance sheet total not exceeding ECU 27 million. A small enterprise is defined as one which employs fewer than 50 people, and which has a turnover of no more than ECU 7 million or a balance sheet total of no more than ECU 5 million. Furthermore, no company may qualify as an SME or small enterprise if 25% or more of its capital is held by a company, or jointly by a group of companies, which are not themselves SMEs or small enterprises, as the case may be. Additionally, micro-enterprises are defined as employing fewer than 10 people.In view of the fact that this is a recommendation, Member States are free, in certain cases, to set lower thresholds in order to give sharper focus to some of their policies. In Greece, SMEs have been defined up until now as businesses employing fewer than 100 people; this Member State will therefore be able, if it so wishes, to keep this threshold in its programmes of action for SMEs.Consequently, the new rules adopted by the Commission to define SMEs, which aim to increase the efficiency, coherence and visibility of measures benefiting this type of enterprise, should not constitute a source of difficulty for Greek SMEs.