Renew Europe Position Paper 6: Small and medium-sized enterprises, our commitment to Europe’s SMEs

Europe’s Small and Medium Sized Enterprises are everywhere around us: there are some 24 million of them, together representing around 99% of all companies in the EU. They have been responsible for the vast majority of new jobs over the years, and our societies rely on them massively. The importance of our SMEs has always been recognised – yet Covid-19 has made us realise just how vital they are, especially as the crisis has placed huge numbers of SMEs in a precarious financial position: many have had to close their doors and millions of jobs continue to be at risk. If improving SMEs access to finance was essential prior to the crisis, it has now become crucial for their very survival.