SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2019
Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe
Robust SME sectors are critical to the prosperity of the six Western Balkan economies and Turkey, accounting for over 70% of those employed in the business sector and generating 65% of value added in these seven economies. Yet their potential remains untapped, as SMEs across the region grapple with numerous challenges that hamper their growth and productivity. They are still under-represented in international trade, and their contributions to value-added remain comparatively low as they have difficulties in moving or expanding into high value-added activities.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) in the seven EU pre-accession economies over the period 2016-18. It monitors progress against similar assessments performed over the past decade and identifies the outstanding challenges affecting SMEs. It also provides targeted recommendations to remove barriers to SME development and unleashing their potential for driving inclusive economic growth.
Standards and technical regulations (Dimension 7) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
This chapter assesses the quality infrastructure systems and procedures required in the Western Balkans and Turkey to facilitate small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to the EU Single Market. It starts by outlining the assessment framework, then presents the analysis of Dimension 7’s three sub-dimensions: 1) overall co‑ordination and general measures, which assesses the strategic documents and institutional framework for quality infrastructure co‑ordination; 2) harmonisation with the EU acquis, which analyses the capacities of quality infrastructure institutions as well as their alignment with international and European rules for technical regulations, standardisation, accreditation, metrology, conformity assessment and market surveillance; and 3) SME access to standards, which explores government initiatives to enhance and support access. Each sub-dimension section makes specific recommendations for increasing the capacity and efficiency of quality infrastructure systems in the Western Balkans and Turkey.
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