EU SMEs in 2012 : at the crossroads : annual report on small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU, 2011/12.

The 2012 Annual Growth Survey emphasised the implementation of agreed priorities, particularly the commitments in the Small Business Act to facilitate the creation of new businesses and a smart and lighter regulatory regime for micro and small enterprises. [...] The official definition by the European Commission for the different size classes in the SME group takes into account the annual balance sheet total, the amount of annual turnover and the number of persons employed in the enterprise. [...] The performance of SMEs across the EU is measured with the help of three main indicators: the number of enterprises, their output via their gross value added (GVA) and the number of employees on their payroll. [...] Annual report on small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU, 2011/12 Figure 2.5 Real value added and employment in the SME sector in 2011, EU 27 Member States, Index (2008=100) Source: Eurostat/National Statistics Offices of Member States/Cambridge Econometrics/Ecorys For the assessment of the performance of Member States on the basis of their annual growth rates in SME real value added and empl [...] Hence the GVA growth diamond is located somewhere in the middle of the red and blue columns for these sectors and not on the top as for the trade, transportation and services sectors.