Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME)

SMEs are small and medium-sized enterprises. Size definitions for SMEs vary throughout the world, depending on the country and the corporate structure. The European Commission defines medium-size companies as those with staff of less than 250 and turnover of around EUR 50 million. Small companies are defined as stand-alone companies employing fewer than 50 people with a EUR 10 million turnover. Micro companies are those with less than 10 employees and turnover around EUR 2 million. According to the Commission, SMEs represent 99% of all EU businesses. The reason the EU and governments around the world define SMEs is because many have established funding, grant and support programmes specifically aimed at SMEs so need to establish rules covering which companies have access to them.