Against the background of completing the European Single Market is the observance and monitoring of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With about 20 million such businesses, employing some 117 million people, SMEs represent an economic lynchpin to the success of the Single Market concept. This 6th report, from the Observatory, and prepared by a consortium led by KPMG Consulting, focuses on the economic and financial needs of SMEs. Specific chapters look at their products and services, the recruitment and training of staff, particulary vocational training, and their access to investment. The report is concluded with the set of policy recommendations, which are aimed at strengthening the entrepreneurial culture. These recommendations include: to provide more information on public procurement to SMEs; to promote further resarch on the impact of electronic commerce on the position of SMEs.

The development of EU enlargement has raised many thorny issues unanticipated by the framers of the EC Treaty. A significant upshot of these issues is that the concept of European identity – defined in terms of such factors as culture, history and economics – has supplanted the long-dominant theme of ‘widening and deepening,’ particularly since the Union’s expansion has become primarily eastward. The major contribution of this important book lies in its analysis of the conceptualization and perception of enlargement from various points of view, focusing on the concerns of stakeholders and the ‘identity’ conflicts and uncertainties incurred by enlargement initiatives. In the course of its presentation, it details the actual pre-accession Europeanization process and its complex history. Among the key elements discussed are the following: the conflict between ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ and the effect on EU institutional reform; institutional requirements on candidate countries; pre-accession criteria and negotiations; administrative capacity, judicial capacity, and legal approximation in accession states; capacity of the EU to absorb new Member States; and EC law as part of European identity. Also covered are specific historical details of particular pre-accession negotiations (e.g., Greece, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and Cyprus), the still inconclusive negotiations with Turkey and the Western Balkan states, and political factors involved in the non-accession of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Assembling powerful evidence and applying incisive analysis, the author’s conclusion shows that, absent further (and major) EU institutional reform, it will be difficult for an enlarging Union to continue to ‘deliver the goods.’ A watershed in the continuing great debate on the fulfilment of the EC Treaty’s determination to foster and promote ‘an ever closer union of the peoples of Europe,’ this book will prove invaluable to anybody interested in the European integration project, particularly lawyers, academics, officials and policymakers in the EU Member States.

This book studies the economic recovery of individual European Union member states more than ten years after the beginning of the global economic crisis. In light of austerity policies and conservative government investments in many EU countries, it explores how higher growth rates can be achieved by stimulating firms and economic sectors with a high accelerator potential. The contributing authors analyze the effects of EU policies on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while also studying EU policies with the potential to foster investments and economic growth. Furthermore the book assesses the EU policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the member states, in comparison with similar policies in Russia and the US. The authors demonstrate that FDI, besides providing financial resources, can facilitate modernization especially in the high technology sectors. Finally, the book provides a sector analysis and policy recommendations on tourism and immigration, as well as economic protectionism, since tourism has proved to be the most dynamic sector, especially in the European South, while immigration is one of the most serious issues the EU is currently facing. This book will appeal to scholars in economics and related fields, as well as decision-makers and professionals at governmental institutions looking for policy measures and tools to stimulate economic growth.

Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU sheds light on the important and yet crucially under-explored interactions between entrepreneurship, institutions and support mechanisms within the EU.

The position of small and medium-sized enterprises in European contract law: an introduction / Marco B.M. Loos and Ilse Samoy -- SMEs in the Common European Sales Law / Fernando Dias Simões -- Can the Common European Sales Law do without the definition of an SME? / Sonja Kruisinga -- A consumer law for professionals : radical innovation or consolidation of national practices? / Pieter Brulez -- The CESL and its unfair terms protection for SMEs / Josse Klijnsma -- Unfair terms in contracts between businesses. A comparative overview in light of the Common European Sales Law / Sander Van Loock -- Harmonisation of rules on business-to-business marketing practices: a critical analysis of the MCAD Report / Bert Kiersbilck

This first biennial report covers SME policy trends in 27 OECD countries and provides an assessment of best practice policies and programmes.

Bogen giver et aktuelt overblik over EU-politik af særlig betydning for små og mellemstore virksomheder. Den påpeger problemer, der bør løses, og anviser nogle midler dertil, mens den på den anden side set også anerkender positive resultater af EUs lovgivning og politik på en række områder. Bogen afspejler i vid udstrækning synspunkter, der på EU-plan repræsenteres af UEAPME, den europ. organisation for håndværk og små og mellemstore virksomheder samt af Håndværksrådet. Bogen, der er på engelsk, vil også være egnet til anvendelse på visse danske skoler og læreanstalter samt blandt journalister, politikere og erhvervsorganisationer. Bogen synes at være den eneste på markedet om det pågældende emne.