A report from the European Commission has affirmed that the promoting of growth and development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is key to the continent’s economic recovery.

Senior MEP Malcolm Harbour said that the report had shown that 85 per cent of the new jobs being created in the EU are with SMEs as opposed to larger multinationals. He explained that the report “highlights the imperative role” that entrepreneurs and small business owners are playing in the recovery of the continent’s ailing economy.

“It should act as a wake up call to EU member states who are not yet putting small businesses at the forefront of every action they take,” Harbour – who is chair of the parliament’s internal market committee – told fellow MEPs.

“Small businesses will act as the engines to pull us out of the economic quagmire. If we stand in their way then we stand in the way of economic growth and employment.”

He hypothesised that if each of the EU’s 23 million SMEs took on one more member of staff, then it would end the unemployment problem straight away. He endorsed the single market view of Europe and said that the EU should work to create open markets and enhance the conditions for innovation – and then “get out of businesses' way”.

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