About the Martens Centre 4

About the author 4

Executive summary 4

Introduction 7

  Background to the study 7 Objectives 8

  Methodology 9

Why SMEs matter for Europe’s triple transformation 9

  Conceptual framework and methodology 10

    Regulatory and institutional framework 12

    Skills and human capital 13

    Finance and investment capacities 13

    Technology adoption and digital infrastructure 14

    Organisational change and business models 15

    Security and resilience 16

    Interaction 16

The political and regulatory landscape for European SMEs 17

  Introduction 17

  The political framework 17

    Anchoring SME support in the transition strategy 17

    Transnational coordination 18

    Performance and policy evidence 19

  The regulatory and legal framework 19   

    Enabling access to finance and capital markets 19

    ‘De-burdening’ of sustainability reporting 21

    Other single market instruments 21

  Member state differences and implementation challenges 22

  Conclusions 23

Where we stand with SME digitalisation 24

  Regulatory and institutional environment 25

  Skills and human capital 25

  Finance and investment 26

  Organisational change and business models 27

  Security and resilience 28

  Competitiveness and sustainability 28

Policy recommendations 30

  Regulatory framework 30

  Skills and human capital 30

  Technology and infrastructure 31

  Finance and investment 31

  Organisational change and business models 32

  Security and resilience 32

  Sustainability 33

Bibliography 33

Appendix 39