Independent report fills SME knowledge gap
The European Commission has released the sixth report of the European observatory for SMEs. The independent report, compiled by a consortium headed by management consultants, KPMG, covers SMEs in the 19 countries of the European Economic Area (and Switzerland). It provides information on five key areas which may help influence forthcoming enterprise policies which are: - Part I analysis of the position and development of SMEs; - Part II study of enterprise behaviour in relation to the environment; - Part III covers enterprise policies; - Part IV presentation of two in-depth thematic studies; - Part V analysis of performance and behaviour in the framework of the Internal Market. Compilation of data for the report included a telephonic survey of 8,000 European SMEs, access to European enterprise databases, national statistics and input from internal and external experts. The European observatory for SMEs was established in 1992 to improve monitoring of SMEs' economic performance.