Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) is a European Commission initiative to further strengthen SMEs’ sustainable growth and competitiveness. SBA is a set of 10 principles to guide the conception and implementation of policies both at EU and Member State level to bring added value at EU level, create a level playing field for SMEs and improve the legal and administrative environment throughout the EU:
- Create an environment in which entrepreneurs and family businesses can thrive and entrepreneurship is rewarded
- Ensure that honest entrepreneurs who have faced bankruptcy quickly get a second chance
- Design rules according to the “Think Small First” principle
- Make public administrations responsive to SMEs’ needs
- Adapt public policy tools to SME needs: facilitate SMEs’ participation in public procurement and better use State Aid possibilities for SMEs
- Facilitate SMEs’ access to finance and develop a legal and business environment supportive to timely payments in commercial transactions
- Help SMEs to benefit more from the opportunities offered by the Single Market
- Promote the upgrading of skills in SMEs and all forms of innovation
- Enable SMEs to turn environmental challenges into opportunities
- Encourage and support SMEs to benefit from the growth of markets
Türkiye takes place in the SBA assessment for the Western Balkans and Türkiye; “SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Türkiye” since 2012. The studies regarding the Act have been carried out under the coordination of KOSGEB, the national coordinator, in cooperation with SME related institutions. “SME Policy Index 2012 Report”, “SME Policy Index 2016 Report”, “SME Policy Index 2019 Report” and “SME Policy Index 2022 Report” have been published after the studies done in cooperation with OECD, EC, ETF, EBRD and the Western Balkan Countries take place in SME Policy Index.
Türkiye has the first place for 9 dimensions of SBA in comparison with Western Balkans according to the SME Policy Index 2016 Report. These dimensions are; entrepreneurship, operational environment, support services, access to finance, standards and technical regulations, SME skills, innovation, green economy and internationalization.
Türkiye ranks first in 7 principles of SBA according to the SME Policy Index Report published in 2019. These include entrepreneurship, support services, access to finance, standards and technical regulations, innovation, environment and internationalization.
Türkiye has the first place for 7 dimensions of SBA in comparison with Western Balkans according to the SME Policy Index 2022 Report. These dimensions are; Support services for SMEs and start-ups, access to finance, standards and technical regulations, SME skills, innovation, SMEs in a green economy and internationalisation of SMEs.
According to this study, Türkiye continues its pro-active approach towards SMEs. Besides, “SME Fact Sheet” is prepared every year in the scope of SBA studies for each country. The SME fact sheets present an assessment of the progress in the implementation of the Small Business Act at national level. They focus on key performance indicators and national policy developments related to the SBA's 10 policy dimensions.
For further information:
Small Business Act for Europe: https://www.oecd.org/south-east-europe/programme/small-business-act-assessment.htm
SME Fact Sheets: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/performance-review_en#sba-fact-sheets