European Enterprise Policy

Since the findings that small firms were creating more jobs than large firms, regional, national and European authorities set up or intensified their SME policies. Evaluations, however, showed that such policies often became a patchwork quilt of complexity and idiosyncrasy. Moreover, the support did not go to the SMEs that most needed it, but to those that were well informed and eager to obtain grants. In addition, it led to discrimination amongst SMEs themselves. Therefore authorities are exploring new ways of conducting enterprise policy. In this context it is not amazing that so much emphasis has been put on the concept of entrepreneurship. One of the key issues in this context is the compatibility of a classical SME policy with an entrepreneurship approach. This book outlines the general principles of enterprise policy with concrete examples in different fields such as financing and incubators. It analyses the role of big companies towards SMEs and focuses on the shift from an SME policy towards an entrepreneurship policy.