Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2003) 1422)
Date: 2003-05-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, small and medium-sized enterprises

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION

COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

of 6 May 2003

concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises

(notified under document number C(2003) 1422)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2003/361/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 211, second indent,
thereof,

Whereas:

economic developments, pursuant to Article 2 of the
Annex thereto, consideration must be given to a number
of difficulties of interpretation which have emerged in its
application, as well as the observations received from
enterprises. In view of the number of amendments now
requiring to be made to Recommendation 96/280/EC,
and for the sake of clarity, it is appropriate to replace
the Recommendation.

(1)

In a report submitted to the Council
in 1992 at the
request of the ‘Industry’ Council held on 28 May 1990,
the Commission had proposed limiting the proliferation
of definitions of small and medium-sized enterprises in
use at Community level. Commission Recommendation
96/280/EC of 3 April 1996 concerning the definition of
small and medium-sized enterprises (1) was based on the
idea that the existence of different definitions at Commu-
nity level and at national level could create inconsisten-
cies. Following the logic of a single market without
internal frontiers, the treatment of enterprises should be
based on a set of common rules. The pursuit of such an
approach is all the more necessary in view of the exten-
sive
and Community
measures assisting micro, small and medium-sized enter-
prises (SME), for example in connection with Structural
Funds or research. It means that situations in which the
Community focuses its action on a given category of
SMEs and the Member States on another must be
avoided. In addition, it was considered that the applica-
tion of
the same definition by the Commission, the
Member States, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and
the European Investment Fund (EIF) would improve the
consistency and effectiveness of policies targeting SMEs
and would,
the risk of distortion of
competition.

interaction between national

therefore,

limit

(2)

Recommendation 96/280/EC has been applied widely by
the Member States, and the definition contained in the
Annex thereto has been taken over in Commission
Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the
application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to
State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (2). Apart
from the need to adapt Recommendation 96/280/EC to

(1) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4.
(2) OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33.

(3)

(4)

It should also be made clear that,
in accordance with
Articles 48, 81 and 82 of the Treaty, as interpreted by
the Court of Justice of the European Communities, an
enterprise should be considered to be any entity, regard-
less of its legal form, engaged in economic activities,
including in particular entities engaged in a craft activity
and other activities on an individual or family basis,
partnerships or
in
economic activities.

associations

regularly

engaged

The criterion of staff numbers (the ‘staff headcount
criterion’) remains undoubtedly one of the most impor-
tant, and must be observed as the main criterion; intro-
ducing a financial criterion is nonetheless a necessary
adjunct in order to grasp the real scale and performance
of an enterprise and its position compared to its compe-
titors. However, it would not be desirable to use turn-
over as the sole financial criterion, in particular because
enterprises in the trade and distribution sector have by
their nature higher turnover figures than those in the
manufacturing sector. Thus the turnover criterion should
be combined with that of the balance sheet total, a
criterion which reflects the overall wealth of a business,
with the possibility of either of these two criteria being
exceeded.

(5)

The turnover ceiling refers to enterprises engaged in very
different types of economic activity.
In order not to
restrict unduly the usefulness of applying the definition,
it should be updated to take account of changes in both
prices and productivity.

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ceilings

turnover

approach whereby

As regards the ceiling for the balance sheet total, in the
absence of any new element, it is justified to maintain
the
are
the
subjected to a coefficient based on the statistical ratio
between the two variables. The statistical trend requires
a greater increase to be made to the turnover ceiling.
Since the trend differs according to the size-category of
the enterprise, it is also appropriate to adjust the coeffi-
cient in order to reflect the economic trend as closely as
possible and not to penalise microenterprises and small
enterprises as opposed to medium-sized enterprises. This
coefficient is very close to 1 in the case of microenter-
prises and small enterprises. To simplify matters, there-
fore, a single value must be chosen for those categories
for the turnover ceiling and balance sheet total ceiling.

As in Recommendation 96/280/EC, the financial ceilings
and the staff ceilings represent maximum limits and the
Member States, the EIB and the EIF may fix ceilings
lower than the Community ceilings if they wish to direct
their measures towards a specific category of SME. In
the interests of administrative simplification, the Member
States, the EIB and the EIF may use only one criterion —
the staff headcount — for the implementation of some
of their policies. However, this does not apply to the
various rules in competition law where the financial
criteria must also be used and adhered to.

Following the endorsement of the European Charter for
Small Enterprises by the European Council of Santa
Maria da Feira in June 2000, microenterprises — a cate-
gory of small enterprises particularly important for the
development of entrepreneurship and job creation —
should also be better defined.

‘business
not previously been specified. The case of
angels’ (individuals or groups of individuals pursuing a
regular business of investing venture capital) deserves
special mention because — compared to other venture
capital investors — their ability to give relevant advice
to new entrepreneurs is extremely valuable. Their invest-
ment in equity capital also complements the activity of
venture capital companies, as
they provide smaller
amounts at an earlier stage of the enterprise's life.

(11)

To simplify matters, in particular for Member States and
enterprises, use should be made when defining linked
enterprises of the conditions laid down in Article 1 of
Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 based
on Article 54(3)(g) of
the Treaty on consolidated
accounts (1), as last amended by Directive 2001/65/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council (2), in so far
as these conditions are suitable for the purposes of this
Recommendation. To strengthen the incentives
for
investing in the equity funding of an SME, the presump-
tion of absence of dominant influence on the enterprise
in question was introduced, in pursuance of the criteria
of Article 5(3), of Council Directive 78/660/EEC of 25
July 1978 based on Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on the
annual accounts of certain types of companies (3), as last
amended by Directive 2001/65/EC.

(12) Account should also be taken, in suitable cases, of rela-
tions between enterprises which pass through natural
persons, with a view to ensuring that only those enter-
prises which really need the advantages accruing to
SMEs from the different rules or measures in their favour
actually benefit from them. In order to limit the exami-
nation of these situations to the strict minimum, the
account taken of such relationships has been restricted
to the relevant market or to adjacent markets — refer-
ence being had, where necessary, to the Commission's
definition of ‘relevant markets’ in the Commission notice
on the definition of relevant market for the purposes of
Community competition law (4).

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

To gain a better understanding of the real economic
position of SMEs and to remove from that category
groups of enterprises whose economic power may
exceed that of genuine SMEs, a distinction should be
made between various types of enterprises, depending
on whether they are autonomous, whether they have
holdings which do not entail a controlling position
(partner enterprises), or whether they are linked to other
enterprises. The current limit shown in Recommendation
96/280/EC, of a 25 % holding below which an enterprise
is considered autonomous, is maintained.

(13)

(14)

In order to avoid arbitrary distinctions between different
public bodies of a Member State, and given the need for
legal certainty, it is considered necessary to confirm that
an enterprise with 25 % or more of its capital or voting
rights controlled by a public body is not an SME.

In order to ease the administrative burden for enter-
prises, and to simplify and speed up the administrative
handling of cases for which SME status is required, it is
appropriate to allow enterprises to use solemn declara-
tions to certify certain of their characteristics.

(10)

In order to encourage the creation of enterprises, equity
financing of SMEs and rural and local development,
enterprises can be considered autonomous despite a
holding of 25 % or more by certain categories of inves-
tors who have a positive role in business financing and
creation. However, conditions for these investors have

(1) OJ L 193, 18.7.1983, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 283, 27.10.2001, p. 28.
(3) OJ L 222, 14.8.1978, p. 11.
(4) OJ C 372, 9.12.1997, p. 5.

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(15)

(16)

It is necessary to establish in detail the composition of
the staff headcount for SME definition purposes. In order
to promote the development of vocational training and
sandwich courses, it is desirable, when calculating staff
numbers, to disregard apprentices and students with a
training contract. Similarly, maternity or
vocational
parental leave periods should not be counted.

The various types of enterprise defined according to
their relationship with other enterprises correspond to
objectively differing degrees of integration. It is therefore
appropriate to apply distinct procedures to each of those
types of enterprise when calculating the quantities repre-
senting their activities and economic power,

Article 2

The ceilings shown in Article 2 of the Annex are to be regarded
as maximum values. Member States, the EIB and the EIF may
fix lower ceilings. In implementing certain of their policies,
they may also choose to apply only the criterion of number of
employees, except in fields governed by the various rules on
State aid.

Article 3

This Recommendation will replace Recommendation 96/280/
EC as from 1 January 2005.

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

Article 4

Article 1

This Recommendation concerns the definition of micro,
1.
small and medium-sized enterprises used in Community poli-
cies
applied within the Community and the European
Economic Area.

2. Member States, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and
the European Investment Fund (EIF), are invited:

(a) to comply with Title I of the Annex for their programmes
directed towards medium-sized enterprises, small enter-
prises or microenterprises;

(b) to take the necessary steps with a view to using the size
classes set out in Article 7 of the Annex, especially where
the monitoring of their use of Community financial instru-
ments is concerned.

This Recommendation is addressed to the Member States, the
EIB and the EIF.

They are requested to inform the Commission by 31 December
2004 of any measures they have taken further to it and, no
later than 30 September 2005, to inform it of the first results
of its implementation.

Done at Brussels, 6 May 2003.

For the Commission

Erkki LIIKANEN

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

TITLE I

DEFINITION OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES ADOPTED BY THE COMMISSION

Article 1

Enterprise

An enterprise is considered to be any entity engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form. This includes,
in particular, self-employed persons and family businesses engaged in craft or other activities, and partnerships or asso-
ciations regularly engaged in an economic activity.

Article 2

Staff headcount and financial ceilings determining enterprise categories

1.
The category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is made up of enterprises which employ fewer
than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet
total not exceeding EUR 43 million.

2. Within the SME category, a small enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and
whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.

3. Within the SME category, a microenterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and
whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.

Article 3

Types of enterprise taken into consideration in calculating staff numbers and financial amounts

An ‘autonomous enterprise’ is any enterprise which is not classified as a partner enterprise within the meaning of

1.
paragraph 2 or as a linked enterprise within the meaning of paragraph 3.

‘Partner enterprises’ are all enterprises which are not classified as linked enterprises within the meaning of para-
2.
graph 3 and between which there is the following relationship: an enterprise (upstream enterprise) holds, either solely or
jointly with one or more linked enterprises within the meaning of paragraph 3, 25 % or more of the capital or voting
rights of another enterprise (downstream enterprise).

However, an enterprise may be ranked as autonomous, and thus as not having any partner enterprises, even if this 25 %
threshold is reached or exceeded by the following investors, provided that those investors are not linked, within the
meaning of paragraph 3, either individually or jointly to the enterprise in question:

(a) public investment corporations, venture capital companies,

individuals or groups of individuals with a regular
venture capital investment activity who invest equity capital in unquoted businesses (‘business angels’), provided the
total investment of those business angels in the same enterprise is less than EUR 1 250 000;

(b) universities or non-profit research centres;

(c) institutional investors, including regional development funds;

(d) autonomous local authorities with an annual budget of less than EUR 10 million and fewer than 5 000 inhabitants.

3.

‘Linked enterprises’ are enterprises which have any of the following relationships with each other:

(a) an enterprise has a majority of the shareholders' or members' voting rights in another enterprise;

(b) an enterprise has the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administrative, management or

supervisory body of another enterprise;

(c) an enterprise has the right to exercise a dominant influence over another enterprise pursuant to a contract entered

into with that enterprise or to a provision in its memorandum or articles of association;

(d) an enterprise, which is a shareholder in or member of another enterprise, controls alone, pursuant to an agreement
with other shareholders in or members of that enterprise, a majority of shareholders' or members' voting rights in
that enterprise.

There is a presumption that no dominant influence exists if the investors listed in the second subparagraph of paragraph
2 are not involving themselves directly or indirectly in the management of the enterprise in question, without prejudice
to their rights as stakeholders.

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Enterprises having any of the relationships described in the first subparagraph through one or more other enterprises, or
any one of the investors mentioned in paragraph 2, are also considered to be linked.

Enterprises which have one or other of such relationships through a natural person or group of natural persons acting
jointly are also considered linked enterprises if they engage in their activity or in part of their activity in the same rele-
vant market or in adjacent markets.

An ‘adjacent market’ is considered to be the market for a product or service situated directly upstream or downstream of
the relevant market.

4.
Except in the cases set out in paragraph 2, second subparagraph, an enterprise cannot be considered an SME if
25 % or more of the capital or voting rights are directly or indirectly controlled, jointly or individually, by one or more
public bodies.

Enterprises may make a declaration of status as an autonomous enterprise, partner enterprise or linked enterprise,
5.
including the data regarding the ceilings set out in Article 2. The declaration may be made even if the capital is spread
in such a way that it is not possible to determine exactly by whom it is held, in which case the enterprise may declare in
good faith that it can legitimately presume that it is not owned as to 25 % or more by one enterprise or jointly by enter-
prises linked to one another. Such declarations are made without prejudice to the checks and investigations provided for
by national or Community rules.

Article 4

Data used for the staff headcount and the financial amounts and reference period

1.
The data to apply to the headcount of staff and the financial amounts are those relating to the latest approved
accounting period and calculated on an annual basis. They are taken into account from the date of closure of the
accounts. The amount selected for the turnover is calculated excluding value added tax (VAT) and other indirect taxes.

2. Where, at the date of closure of the accounts, an enterprise finds that, on an annual basis, it has exceeded or fallen
below the headcount or financial ceilings stated in Article 2, this will not result in the loss or acquisition of the status of
medium-sized, small or microenterprise unless those ceilings are exceeded over two consecutive accounting periods.

In the case of newly established enterprises whose accounts have not yet been approved, the data to apply is to be

3.
derived from a bona fide estimate made in the course of the financial year.

Article 5

Staff headcount

The headcount corresponds to the number of annual work units (AWU), i.e. the number of persons who worked full-
time within the enterprise in question or on its behalf during the entire reference year under consideration. The work of
persons who have not worked the full year, the work of those who have worked part-time, regardless of duration, and
the work of seasonal workers are counted as fractions of AWU. The staff consists of:

(a) employees;

(b) persons working for the enterprise being subordinated to it and deemed to be employees under national law;

(c) owner-managers;

(d) partners engaging in a regular activity in the enterprise and benefiting from financial advantages from the enterprise.

Apprentices or students engaged in vocational training with an apprenticeship or vocational training contract are not
included as staff. The duration of maternity or parental leaves is not counted.

Article 6

Establishing the data of an enterprise

In the case of an autonomous enterprise, the data, including the number of staff, are determined exclusively on the

1.
basis of the accounts of that enterprise.

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The data, including the headcount, of an enterprise having partner enterprises or linked enterprises are determined
2.
on the basis of the accounts and other data of the enterprise or, where they exist, the consolidated accounts of the enter-
prise, or the consolidated accounts in which the enterprise is included through consolidation.

To the data referred to in the first subparagraph are added the data of any partner enterprise of the enterprise in ques-
tion situated immediately upstream or downstream from it. Aggregation is proportional to the percentage interest in the
capital or voting rights (whichever is greater). In the case of cross-holdings, the greater percentage applies.

To the data referred to in the first and second subparagraph is added 100 % of the data of any enterprise, which is linked
directly or indirectly to the enterprise in question, where the data were not already included through consolidation in
the accounts.

For the application of paragraph 2, the data of the partner enterprises of the enterprise in question are derived
3.
from their accounts and their other data, consolidated if they exist. To these is added 100 % of the data of enterprises
which are linked to these partner enterprises, unless their accounts data are already included through consolidation.

For the application of the same paragraph 2, the data of the enterprises which are linked to the enterprise in question
are to be derived from their accounts and their other data, consolidated if they exist. To these is added, pro rata, the data
of any possible partner enterprise of that linked enterprise, situated immediately upstream or downstream from it, unless
it has already been included in the consolidated accounts with a percentage at least proportional to the percentage iden-
tified under the second subparagraph of paragraph 2.

4. Where in the consolidated accounts no staff data appear for a given enterprise, staff figures are calculated by aggre-
gating proportionally the data from its partner enterprises and by adding the data from the enterprises to which the
enterprise in question is linked.

TITLE II

SUNDRY PROVISIONS

Article 7

Statistics

The Commission will take the necessary measures to present the statistics that it produces in accordance with the
following size-classes of enterprises:

(a) 0 to 1 person;

(b) 2 to 9 persons;

(c) 10 to 49 persons;

(d) 50 to 249 persons.

Article 8

References

1.
Any Community legislation or any Community programme to be amended or adopted and in which the term
‘SME’, ‘microenterprise’, ‘small enterprise’ or ‘medium-sized enterprise’, or any other similar term occurs, should refer to
the definition contained in this Recommendation.

As a transitional measure, current Community programmes using the SME definition in Recommendation 96/280/
2.
EC will continue to be implemented for the benefit of the enterprises which were considered SMEs when those
programmes were adopted. Legally binding commitments entered into by the Commission on the basis of such
programmes will remain unaffected.

Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, any amendment of the SME definition within the programmes can be made
only by adopting the definition contained in this Recommendation in accordance with paragraph 1.

Article 9

Revision

On the basis of a review of the application of the definition contained in this Recommendation, to be drawn up by 31
March 2006, and taking account of any amendments to Article 1 of Directive 83/349/EEC on the definition of linked
enterprises within the meaning of that Directive, the Commission will, if necessary, adapt the definition contained in this
Recommendation, and in particular the ceilings for turnover and the balance-sheet total in order to take account of
experience and economic developments in the Community.