The European Commission Communication defines SMEs as follow: “An enterprise is any entity engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form”. “Enterprises qualify as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) if they fulfil the criteria laid down in the Recommendation which are summarized in the table below. In addition to the staff headcount ceiling, an enterprise qualifies as an SME if it meets either the turnover ceiling or the balance sheet ceiling, but not necessarily both.
|
Enterprise category |
Head count |
Turnover |
or |
Balance sheet total |
|
|
medium-sized |
< 250 |
≤ € 50 million |
≤ € 43 million |
||
|
small |
< 50 |
≤ € 10 million |
≤ € 10 million |
||
|
micro |
< 10 |
≤ € 2 million |
≤ € 2 million |
||
EU's SME definition: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htm