Making Better Regulation work better for SMEs - The SME Test benchmark 2022

Foreword

The last three years have been extremely challenging for Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the economic shockwaves from the war in Ukraine eroding the tentative recovery from the pandemic and further undermining already disrupted global supply chains.

SMEs are also, in many cases, lacking the margins, economies of scale and in-house human resources to mitigate the impact of new challenges. This also applies to challenges connected to the regulatory environment.

This is why the SME Test, building on the rationale of the “think small first” principle enshrined in the “Small Business Act”, to which the European Commission rightly subscribes, plays a very important role. As a key tool of the better regulation guidelines, it is a pre-condition for evidence-based policy initiatives that deliver their objectives in a manner that avoids unnecessary or disproportionate burdens. As such, the SME Test is pivotal to ensuring an SME-proofed regulatory regime and needs to be used correctly to prove effective.

BusinessEurope, Eurochambres and SMEunited have therefore joined forces to analyse the application of the European Commission SME Test. This report assesses its use across European Commission services and provides recommendations for better SME policy making.

We are proud to submit our joint report for consideration by the European Commission, other EU policymakers and the broader SME policy community.