Title page 1

Contents 4

About the Martens Centre 5

About the author 7

Executive summary 9

Introduction 13

Background to the study 14

Objectives 15

Methodology 16

Why SMEs matter for Europe's triple transformation 17

Conceptual framework and methodology 19

Regulatory and institutional framework 21

Skills and human capital 21

Finance and investment capacities 22

Technology adoption and digital infrastructure 22

Organisational change and business models 23

Security and resilience 23

Interaction 24

The political and regulatory landscape for European SMEs 25

Introduction 26

The political framework 26

Anchoring SME support in the transition strategy 26

Transnational coordination 27

Performance and policy evidence 28

The regulatory and legal framework 28

Enabling access to finance and capital markets 28

'De-burdening' of sustainability reporting 30

Other single market instruments 30

Member state differences and implementation challenges 31

Conclusions 32

Where we stand with SME digitalisation 33

Regulatory and institutional environment 34

Skills and human capital 35

Finance and investment 36

Organisational change and business models 37

Security and resilience 38

Competitiveness and sustainability 38

Policy recommendations 41

Regulatory framework 42

Skills and human capital 42

Technology and infrastructure 43

Finance and investment 44

Organisational change and business models 44

Security and resilience 45

Sustainability 45

Bibliography 47

Appendix 54

Table 1. Triple transition: challenges for European SMEs 18

Table 2. Enterprises in Europe by size class (2023) 55

Table 3. Key indicators for digital uptake (SME; 10-49 employees) 56

Figure 1. Conceptual framework: digitalisation for SMEs 20

Figure 2. Key indicators for digital uptake (SMEs; 10-49 employees) 57