SMEs in Europe – candidate countries – data 2001. 2003 edition

Following on from the first edition of SMEs in Europe that covered innovation, competitiveness and the knowledge-driven society, this second issue presents information on SMEs in candidate countries. In the run-up to the accession of the new Member States, "SMEs in Europe - candidate countries" is designed to present a comprehensive set of data allowing the reader to compare the structure and performance of activities across the whole of the EU and the candidate countries. The publication presents data based on harmonised methodology for the candidate countries and an EU-15 aggregate.

Information is taken from a diverse range of Eurostat databases, in particular drawing on Structural Business Statistics (SBS), the Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS) and the Labour Costs Survey (LCS). The data are generally presented broken down according to standard SME definitions (in terms of employment size classes for enterprises) and according to the main economic activities of enterprises (in accordance with the NACE classification). In most cases the information relates to the latest available period, which is normally the reference year 2001.