The Annual Report on European SMEs 2020/2021, commissioned by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) of the European Commission, reviews the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on EU SMEs in 2020 as well as their expected performance in 2021, after providing a brief overview of their pre-pandemic performance. The report focuses particularly on the digitalisation of European SMEs, as the use of various digital tools in 2020 helped to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
Successful business transfers ensure continuity of production and business relations, preserve employment, and uphold the value of assets. Since 99% of businesses in the EU are SMEs, it is evident that an overwhelming majority of business transfers occur within this group of companies. Business transfers are therefore a natural part of SME policy. Informed policymaking requires a solid evidence base.
However, data on business transfers are generally fragmented, often outdated, and not comparable across the EU Member States. Therefore, this study by DIW Econ on behalf of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of the European Commission seeks to improve the evidence base on business transfers in the EU Member States.
On behalf of Greenpeace, DIW Econ GmbH, together with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and the Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS), has for the first time calculated the employment and climate protection effects of selected green economic stimulus packages. For this purpose, nine packages of measures for a climate-oriented economic stimulus package in the energy, transport, buildings, industry and land-use sectors were compiled from a total of 285 collected proposals for economic stimulus measures: The nine-point plan. The packages of measures contained in this plan allow both short-term employment effects and a medium and long-term resilient, climate-friendly economy.ise.
The annual report shows the size, structure and importance of SMEs for the European economy and provides an overview of the past and projected development of SMEs since 2008. This year’s edition focuses on the performance of SMEs in the fields of research, development and innovation (R&I).SMEs are the backbone of the EU-28 economy. In 2018 there were just over 25 million SMEs, representing 99.8 % of all enterprises in the EU-28 non-financial business sector. The value-added of these enterprises was 56.4 %, and the employment share 66.6 %.
As part of the 2019 SME survey, companies in the Berlin/Brandenburg region were asked for the 15th time about their assessment of the current economic situation, their expectations for the future and their investment and financing plans.
The results show that the economic slowdown is not leaving Berlin’s domestic companies completely unscathed. Both the assessments of the business climate and the expected increase in personnel are more cautious. With companies still reluctant to invest, digitisation is one of the top three investment motives.