Commission working document - Report on the implementation of the SBA
Date: 2009-12-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: competitiveness, entrepreneurship, market access, small and medium-sized enterprises, trading operation

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 15.12.2009 
COM(2009) 680 final 

COMMISSION WORKING DOCUMENT 

Report on the implementation of the SBA 

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1.  INTRODUCTION  

The well-being of SMEs is key to future employment and prosperity in the EU. Therefore the 
Commission launched in June 2008 an ambitious new policy initiative, a Small Business Act 
for  Europe  (SBA),  to  put  SMEs  at  the  forefront  of  decision-making,  to  strengthen  their 
potential to create jobs in the EU and to promote their competitiveness both within the Single 
Market  and  in  the  global  markets.  As  a  key  element,  the  SBA  aims  at  making  the  ‘Think 
Small First’ principle a reality in policies and decision making at all levels in the EU.  

The  financial  and  economic  crisis  has  further  accentuated  the  need  for  far-reaching  and 
comprehensive  policy  measures  in  favour  of  SMEs.  When  adopting  the  SBA,  the 
Competitiveness Council also agreed in December 2008 on an Action Plan of measures to be 
implemented as a matter of priority to better address the needs of SMEs in the global crisis 
concentrating  on  improving  access  to  finance,  access  to  markets  and  the  regulatory 
environment. This was subsequently endorsed by the December 2008 European Council. The 
European Parliament has supported the SBA and invited the Member States to implement the 
SBA  in  its  entirety.  Last  but  not  least,  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  has  also  given  strong 
support to the need to fully unlock SMEs’ potential through the SBA. 

This report summarises the progress achieved in 2009, which  has been  the first  full year of 
implementation of the SBA, focussing mainly on the measures contained in the SBA Action 
Plan and in the European Economic Recovery Plan.  

Both the Commission and the Member States have taken substantial action to improve SMEs’ 
access  to  finance,  to  facilitate  their  access  to  EU  and  third  country  markets  and  to  improve 
framework  conditions  for  SMEs  in  particular  by  removing  unnecessary  administrative 
burdens.  

2.  THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SBA IN 2009  

The  Commission  has  delivered  on  major  actions  announced  in  the  SBA.  It  has  adopted  all 
five  legislative  proposals  linked  to  the  SBA.  A  general  ‘block  exemption’  regulation 
(GBER)  adopted  in  July  2008  made  it  easier for governments to support SMEs  through  aid 
measures  exempted  from  the  notification  obligation.  The  proposal  on  reduced  VAT  rates 
entered into force on 1 June 2009 and offers the Member States ample possibilities to boost 
economic  activity  notably  in  labour-intensive  services.  The  three  other  legislative  proposals 
are still pending and the Council and European Parliament have a key role to play in ensuring 
a swift adoption of the proposals with a view to offering further relief and support to SMEs. 
The  proposed  recast  of  the  late  payments  Directive  and  the  proposal  on  a  European 
Private Company Statute are both vitally important for the competitiveness of SMEs. The 
proposal on VAT invoicing, adopted by the Commission in January 2009, aims at ensuring 
equal treatment of paper and electronic invoices and is estimated to have a  maximum mid-
term  reduction  potential  of  € 18.4  billion  if  all  businesses  would  send  all  their  invoices 
electronically.  

Member States have also shown strong political commitment to implement the SBA, but vary 
as  regards  both  the  approach  taken  and  the  results  achieved.  Several  Member  States  have 
'transposed' the SBA as a whole into their national policy programmes. Belgium launched its 
‘Plan  PME’  in  October  2008,  which  includes  40  measures  covering  the  main  objectives  of 
the SBA. In Italy, the government created a working group to monitor the implementation of 
the  SBA,  with  actions  proposed  in  ten  areas.  The  Irish  Government  has  adopted  a  similar 
approach.  

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In their 2009 National Progress Reports in the context of the Lisbon Partnership for growth 
and  jobs,  Finland,  France,  the  Netherlands,  Romania  and  the  United  Kingdom  have 
explicitly  reported  on  how  they  are  implementing  the  SBA.  France  has  taken  action  in  the 
three  priorities  of  the  SBA  Action  Plan.  The  United  Kingdom  has  presented  in  a  very 
detailed annex the measures taken for each of the ten principles of the SBA. Moreover, some 
regions,  such  as  Catalonia  (Spain)  or  North  Rhine-Westphalia  (Germany),  have  also 
adopted the SBA. However, most frequently, Member States have adopted concrete measures 
identified as priorities in the SBA Action Plan. 

2.1. 

Implementing the “Think Small First” principle  

From January 2009, the Commission has systematically applied an “SME Test” to assess the 
impact on SMEs of all its major legislative and policy proposals. This test has become part of 
the  Commission’s  revised  Impact  Assessment  Guidelines  and  its  application  is  closely 
monitored.  Based  on  an  SME  test,  the  Commission  proposed  in  February  2009  to  give 
Member States the possibility to exempt micro-enterprises from accounting rules. Member 
States would be free to devise accounting regimes best suited to their micro-enterprises. As a 
result,  up  to  5.4  million  micro-enterprises  could  profit  from  regimes  better  tailored  to  their 
needs,  amounting  to  € 6.3  billion  of  potential  savings  for  the  EU  economy.  A  number  of 
Member States such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Germany have also integrated an 
“SME test” into their national decision-making approach.  

The  Commission  has  taken  major  steps  to  reach  the  EU  target  of  a  25%  reduction  in 
administrative  burdens  set  in  March  2007,  which  in  particular  benefits  SMEs.  Reduction 
measures  already  adopted  by  the  legislator  are  expected  to  lead  to  reduced  costs  of  € 7.6 
billion. Measures pending adoption by the Council and Parliament could add € 30.7 billion to 
that  amount.  All  in  all,  the  administrative  burdens  reduction  proposed  or  currently  under 
preparation by the Commission could exceed the initial target and reach 33% of the total of 
€ 123.8 billion estimated burdens of EU origin.  Furthermore, the Commission is committed to 
continue  to  reduce  unnecessary  administrative  burdens  as  outlined  in  its  Communication 
“Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU: sectoral Reduction Plan 
and 2009 Actions” - COM(2009) 544. 

Examples for potential further actions beneficial to SMEs include the announced exemption 
for non-professional drivers from work and rest times and consequently from the obligation to 
use tachographs for a distance of up to 100 km, and improved guidance on risk assessment in 
the field of health and safety, which would mainly benefit small companies. 

The  Commission  welcomes  the  fact  that  all  Member  States  have  by  now  adopted  national 
targets  for  reducing  administrative  burdens  and  that  they  are  continuing  to  simplify  the 
administrative environment for SMEs. For example, the average time and cost to start-up a 
private limited company is now 8 days (compared to 9 days in 2008) and the cost is € 417  
(compared  to  € 463  in  2008).  Eighteen  countries  have  provided  an  operational  one-stop-
shop that is able to serve the creation of private limited companies and has developed at least 
a number of pre-defined procedures (company registration, tax registration, etc). Bulgaria has 
consolidated the streamlining of start-up procedures, initiated in 2008 in which nine start-up 
procedures  have  been  merged  and  simplified  into  just  one.  Germany  has  successfully 
amended  the  legislation  for  private  limited  companies,  which  not  only  simplifies  the 
procedure  but  may  also  be  instrumental  in  fostering  the  creation  of  more  enterprises. 
Streamlining  of  processes  in  Hungary,  Malta  and  Slovakia  has  also  contributed  to  time 
reductions in these countries. In Slovenia, the electronic one-stop-shop system can register all 

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forms of companies in 3 days or less and has resulted in savings of €10.2 million a year for 
Slovenian SMEs. 

The SBA also invited the Member States to make it possible to complete all legal procedures 
to wind up a business in case of non-fraudulent bankruptcy within a year (or less). So far 
five countries, Belgium,  Finland, Ireland,  Spain  and the United Kingdom, have  followed 
this invitation. 

Finally,  the  Commission  has  also  decided  to  extend  the  pilot  action  on  common 
commencement  dates,  initially  planned  for  one  year,  to  two  years:  2010-2011.  The  first 
annual  statement  indicating  future  acts  to  be  adopted  on  fixed  dates  should  be  published  in 
2010  together  with  the  Better  Regulation  Strategic  Review.  The  sectors  participating  in  the 
exercise include the automotive industry, explosives, detergents, and drug precursors.  

2.2. 

Access to finance 

The Commission has simplified state aid rules and has pointed clearly to the need to better 
take into account SMEs’ needs at Member State level. The new General Block Exemption 
Regulation (GBER) adopted as part of the SBA consolidates into one text and harmonises the 
rules  previously  set  out  in  five  separate  regulations,  and  enlarges  the  categories  of  state  aid 
covered by the exemption. The GBER introduced new rules on aid intensities for SMEs (i.e. 
20%  higher  aid  proportion  allowed  for  small  enterprises  and  10%  higher  for  medium-sized 
enterprises)  as  well  as  on  incentives  for  the  creation  of  start-ups  and  support  for  women 
entrepreneurs. Block exempted aid for SMEs amounted to € 2.8 billion in 2008, an increase of 
€0.3 billion  compared  to  2007.  The  Commission  also  adopted  a  Handbook  on  State  Aid 
rules  which  gives  a  concise  overview  of  the  aid  possibilities  for  SMEs  permitted  under 
Community state aid rules.  

In  addition,  the  Commission  adopted  a  temporary  framework  on  state  aid  2009/2010 
providing Member States with increased possibilities to tackle the effects of the credit squeeze 
on  the  real  economy.  In  particular,  Member  States  are  able  to  grant  subsidised  loans,  loan 
guarantees at a reduced premium, risk capital for SMEs and direct state aid of up to € 500 000 
without notification of individual cases.  

The  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  group  has  played  a  crucial  role  in  easing  SMEs’ 
access  to  finance  in  2009.  It  has  substantially  increased  its  lending  activity  dedicated  to 
SMEs from € 8.1 billion in 2008 to around € 
11.5 billion in 2009. Moreover, the Commission 
has also worked in close partnership with the EIF. Besides the continuous implementation of 
the  SME  instruments  foreseen  under  the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Framework 
Programme  (€ 1.13  billion  earmarked  for  2007-2013),  € 200  million  has  been  allocated  by 
the EIB for mezzanine finance for 2009.  

In September 2009, the first investment (of € 1.85  million) was made in the framework of the 
JASMINE  initiative,  launched  in  2008  by the  Commission  to  promote  the  development  of 
micro-finance  institutions  in  Europe.  The  EIF  anticipates  that  another  two investments  will 
be  made  in  2009  of  an  additional  € 2-3 m illion each. Furthermore,  the  Commission  has 
stepped  up  its  efforts  to  provide  Member  States  and  other  stakeholders  with  information  on 
SMEs’ access to finance through regular surveys. 

The JEREMIE initiative has also progressed very well. The Cohesion Policy programming 
for  the  period  2007-2013  has  resulted  in  85  operational  programmes,  either  national  or 

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regional, which foresee the possibility for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 
to co-finance JEREMIE-type instruments in support of SMEs and start-ups. By October 2009, 
JEREMIE had been implemented in 13 Member States either at national or at regional level. 
A total  amount  of € 3.069  billion has  been  committed by ERDF operational programmes to 
JEREMIE holding funds.  

As a response to the financial and economic crisis, and often using the temporary framework 
on state aid, most Member States have also adopted policy measures to enhance SMEs’ access 
to  liquidity,  especially  to  bank  lending,  through  the  creation  and  extension  of  loan  and 
guarantee  schemes  for  SMEs  (Austria,  Belgium,  the  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Estonia, 
Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Italy,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  the 
Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom). The EIB package of € 30 billion for loans to 
SMEs  also  allows  some  member  countries  to  use  a  second  level  guarantee  scheme.  In 
addition,  Belgium  and  France  have  set  up  a  "credit  mediator"  acting  as  a  contact  point  for 
SMEs and entrepreneurs that have problems with their bank. 

Several Member States have taken action to reduce late payments, anticipating the recast of 
the  late  payments  Directive  and  in  some  cases,  going  beyond  its  scope.  In  Bulgaria,  the 
Finance Minister announced that he would increase the statutory interest for late payment by 
10  or  20  points  as  a  preventative  measure.  In  France,  the  law  to  modernise  the  economy 
adopted in August 2008 requires that the term for public payments is reduced to 30 days by 1 
July 2010 at  the latest. In Germany a new  law in force since 1 January 2009  improves  the 
position of the creditor for ‘business to consumer’ contracts (e.g. advance payments, refusal 
of  service  if  no  guarantee,  collateral  to  be  provided).  In  Portugal,  the  Government  has 
approved the programme “Pagar a Tempo e Horas” to reduce payment delays, establishing a 
long-term  target  of  30  to  40  days.  In  the  United  Kingdom,  the  central  government  has 
committed  to  pay  all  bills  within  10  days.  The  shortening  of  payment  terms  and  delays 
remains  of  particular  importance  for  SMEs  active  in  Greece,  Italy,  Portugal  and  Spain. 
These Member States have the largest scope for improvement in terms of payment period by 
public authorities (around 150 days on average). 

The Commission has also simplified the Cohesion Policy management rules to facilitate the 
implementation of the 455 Cohesion Policy programmes planned for 2007-2013, representing 
a  total  investment  of  € 347  billion,  and  hen ce  accelerating  investment  flows  directed 
particularly towards project promoters such as SMEs. Investments in sectors linked to energy 
efficiency and the use of renewable energies in housing are also being encouraged, given their 
considerable potential to provide growth and jobs. 

Simplification  of  the  7th  Framework  Programme  for  Research  and  Technological 
Development  (FP7)  has  also  been  progressing  and  before  the  end  of  2009  the  Commission 
will adopt a proposal making it possible for a growing SME taking part in an FP7 project to 
keep the benefit of SME treatment for that project even if it exceeds the SME ceilings during 
the duration of the project. 

the  Commission  has  decided  on 

Finally, 
improve  budget 
implementation  that  could  help  economic  recovery.  In  particular,  the  target  deadlines  for 
approving reports and making payments have been reduced, with a rule that payments should 
be made within 30 days (20 days for pre-financing). 

internal  measures  to 

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2.3. 

Access to markets 

To  stimulate  cross-border  operations  with  the  Single  Market,  the  Commission  and  the 
Member States jointly decided to further lower the fees for EU-wide trade mark rights by 
40% and to simplify the registration procedure from 1 May 2009.  

Stressing  the  importance  of  ensuring  a  level  playing  field  for  all  economic  players  in 
accessing  public  tenders,  the  Commission  invited  Member  States  to  make  the  most  of  the 
“European Code of Best practices” in order to facilitate SMEs’ access to public procurement 
contracts (‘the SME Code’) adopted as a part of the SBA in June 2008.  

Several Member States have taken measures further to the publication of the Code. In France, 
the  legislator  clarified  in  the  general  public  procurement  Act  (‘Code  des  Marchés  Publics’) 
that setting minimum capacity levels for tenders is optional. In Hungary, the Act on public 
procurement  was  modified  in  April  2009  and  includes  some  new  elements  such  as  the 
subdivision  of  contracts  into  lots  when  appropriate.  In  Ireland,  the  national  authorities  are 
preparing broad guidance in order to assist public authorities in determining the appropriate 
levels of financial capacity of tenderers in the light of particular requirements. In Poland, the 
authorities  have  promoted  the  SME  Code  through  a  website  and  by  distributing  it  to 
representatives  of  contracting  authorities  who  participate  in  training.  In  Sweden,  the  Legal, 
Financial  and  Administrative  Services  Agency  is,  as  from  January  2009,  responsible  for 
providing practical help and guidance both to procurers and tenderers nationwide. Finally, in 
2010 the Commission will launch a campaign to promote the use of the SME Code and a 
study to update the figures on SMEs’ access to public tenders.  

To promote SMEs’ use of standards and following a Commission request, CENELEC is now 
publishing  on  its  website  free  of  charge  the  scopes  of  European  standards  in  order  to  help 
SMEs  identify  those  standards  that  impact  their  business.  Increasing  numbers  of  CEN's 
members,  in  line  with  the  CEN  Strategy  2010,  are  publishing  the  scopes  in  their  national 
catalogues. The Commission also increased EU financial support to € 2.1 million in 2009 to 
promote  SMEs  participation  in  and  defence  of  their  interests  in  the  standardisation  process 
and to improve SMEs information about and use of European standards. 

The Commission has also highlighted the importance of a full and timely transposition of the 
Services Directive which will significantly facilitate the establishment of businesses and the 
cross-border  provision  of  services.  In  particular,  it  leads  to  a  facilitation  of  administrative 
procedures in Member States and makes it possible for companies and individuals to complete 
all  necessary  formalities,  such  as  authorizations,  notifications,  environmental  licenses,  by 
electronic  means  through  points  of  single  contact.  The  Commission  has  devoted  significant 
resources to monitor and coordinate, together with the Member States, the implementation of 
the Directive which will end on 28 December, 2009. The main strands of work have included 
setting-up  points  of  single  contact  and  developing  practical  solutions  to  facilitate  the  cross-
border use of electronic signatures. This activity will continue in the future, inter alia with a 
large  scale  pilot  project  (SPOCs)  intended  to  further  enhance  the  points  of  single  contact 
beyond 2010.  

As regards the external dimension,  Market  Access  Teams have been established in 30 key 
export  markets.  Consequently,  EU  Delegations,  Member  States  and  EU  business 
organisations  are  coordinating  their  efforts  closely  to  inform  each  other  about  trade  barriers 
and to tackle them. Moreover, to assist SMEs’ to access fast-growing markets outside the EU, 
the Commission is setting-up business centres in a selected number of these markets. These 

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Centres  will  help  EU  SMEs  wishing  to  set  up  and  trade  in  these  countries  by  providing 
business  support  services  including  market  access  assistance,  finding  commercial  partners, 
logistical support and advice on issues such as protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) 
and standardisation.  

The activities of the European Business Centre in India started in November 2008. In China, 
the  centre  will  open  in  2010.  The  setting  up  of  centres  in  other  countries  is  under 
consideration.  In  addition,  a  significant  number  of  countries  (Austria, the Czech  Republic, 
Denmark,  Germany,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands,  Slovenia  and  Spain)  have 
strengthened public support for the promotion and financing of exports. 

Finally, the Enterprise Europe Network is operational as a  business  support  network  with 
567 partner organisations active in 44 countries. Services are being provided by about 3 000 
professional staff addressing about 3 million SMEs. During the first 18 months of operation, 
the Network organised more than 10 000 events in which around 400 000 SMEs participated 
and concluded more than 1 400 business and technology partnership agreements. 

2.4. 

Promoting Entrepreneurship 

Two major events in 2009, the First European SME Week which took place in 36 European 
countries  and  the  Conference  on  the  SBA/European  Charter  for  small  enterprises  have 
contributed  to  promoting  entrepreneurship  among  the  general  public,  giving  voice  to 
entrepreneurs  to  present  their  career  paths  and  providing  opportunities  for  networking.  It  is 
worth  noting  that  both  Candidate  Countries  as  well  as  countries  from  the  European 
neighbourhood  are  showing  increasing  interest  in  developing  SME-friendly  policies  and  in 
joining  the  mutual  learning  exercise.  The  exchange  of  good  practices,  and  the  process  of 
learning  from  each  other,  is  working  well  beyond  the  borders  of  the  EU.  For  example, 
Norway established an Action Plan to promote women’s entrepreneurship with the objective 
of having women represent 40% of all entrepreneurs by 2013. Overall, more than 600 good 
practices have been proposed by the participating countries over the past ten years.  

The  European  Enterprise  Awards  have  mobilised  public  authorities  in  Member  States  to 
design SME-friendly policies. In the autumn of 2009 the European Committee of the Regions 
launched a new "The European Entrepreneurial Region” initiative.  

A  European  Network  of  Female  Entrepreneurship  Ambassadors  was  launched  in 
collaboration  with  the  Swedish  Presidency  in  Stockholm  in  October  2009  with  the  aim  of 
"bridging the gender gap" and increasing the number of women starting businesses in Europe. 
The network consists of 100 ambassadors, currently covering ten countries. 

As  part  of  the  push  to  encourage  small  businesses  to  embrace  the  Internal  Market,  the 
Commission  initiative  ERASMUS  for  Young  Entrepreneurs  encourages  young  business 
people  to  spend  time  shadowing  an  experienced  entrepreneur  in  another  EU  Member  State. 
The  first  100  relationships  between  new  entrepreneurs  and  host  entrepreneurs  have  been 
approved and 1200 new and host entrepreneurs are registered to take part in the programme.  

Finally,  a  number  of  countries  have  anchored  entrepreneurship  education  in  their  curricula 
(Spain, Finland, Ireland, Cyprus, Poland, and United Kingdom) or have decided to do so 
in future. Entrepreneurship education is currently the object of a new national strategy or 
action plan in Austria, Denmark and Sweden or of an ongoing or planned curricular reform 
in  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Germany  and  Malta.  It  is  important  to  note  that  as  a 

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general trend national curricula are shifting from contents to competences: this strengthens the 
implementation of entrepreneurship as a key competence. The challenge is to go beyond the 
knowledge component and to combine curricular changes with innovative learning methods. 
Finally,  the  cooperation  between  different  departments  and  with  relevant  stakeholders, 
including with the SME community still needs to be improved in most Member States. 

3. 

NEXT STEPS 

Good  progress  has  been  achieved  in  2009.  However,  it  remains  of  utmost  importance  to 
continue to vigorously implement the SBA Action Plan at all levels and not to lose sight of 
the longer-term perspective to create a world-class environment for SMEs as an important 
element of delivering on the forthcoming EU 2020 strategy.  

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