SME Assembly: Commission awards Dutch innovation centre and publishes yearly report on SMEs in the EU
Yesterday evening, during the yearly SME Assembly, the European Commission unveiled the winners of the 2019 European Enterprise Promotion Awards, rewarding bodies promoting entrepreneurship and small businesses at national, regional and local level. The prize went to GreenPAC iLab, an innovative hub created by two Dutch Universities, which supports entrepreneurs in developing, producing and marketing innovative plastic products and parts. Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska said: “Congratulations to GreenPAC! We need more initiatives like this one. They can make EU industry a world leader in green plastics solutions, protect the environment and create new jobs in small and medium businesses.” As part of the yearly SME Performance Review, which assesses the progress made in implementing the Small Business Act, the Commission published the Annual Report on European SMEs as well as new country fiches. The report shows that SMEs remain the EU´s economic backbone, accounting for two out of every three employees and providing 56% of EU value added. The value added created by EU SMEs increased by 4.1% in 2018 as compared to 2017. Over the same period, SME employment grew by 1.8%. 2018 marked the first year since the financial crisis when both SME employment as well as SME value added increased on annual level in all EU Member States.