Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of all businesses in the EU. The definition of an SME is important for access to finance and EU support programmes targeted specifically at these enterprises.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361.
The main factors determining whether an enterprise is an SME are
Company category | Staff headcount | Turnover | or | Balance sheet total | |
Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 m | ≤ € 43 m | ||
Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 m | ≤ € 10 m | ||
Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 m | ≤ € 2 m | ||
These ceilings apply to the figures for individual firms only. A firm that is part of a larger group may need to include staff headcount/turnover/balance sheet data from that group too.
Further details include
There are 2 broad types of potential benefit for an enterprise if it meets the criteria
The Commission regularly monitors the implementation of the SME definition. The independent evaluation study carried out in 2012 concluded that there is no need for a major revision of the SME definition. The final report of the study (1 MB) recommended to clarify the application of certain rules within the existing Recommendation by providing guidance or by updating the 2005 edition of the SME definition user guide.
