SMEs – the backbone of the European economy

Micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent more than 99% of all European businesses and provide two-thirds of private sector jobs and contribute more than half of the total value added created by businesses in the EU.

This is why we can say that they are the real backbone of Europe’s economy. Standardization contributes to enhancing the key role of SMEs, but most often, the added value of standards is not well known by small businesses.

Therefore, in recent years, the European standardization organizations CEN and CENELEC have decided to address this issue and have stepped up their efforts targeting SMEs and their participation in standardization work.