Business Excellence, Vol. 4 No. 2, 2010.
Review article
EUROPEAN UNION AS A MEANS OF STIPULATING AND DEVELOPING SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Goran Kutnjak
orcid.org/0000-0001-5969-2126
; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics – Rijeka
Abstract
Modern day entrepreneurship holds a dominating position in economy and overall
society and is thus oft en called entrepreneurial economy, i.e. entrepreneurial society. Th e
historical and developmental complexity of entrepreneurship and its futuristic perception
insist upon its systematic organization based on enterprises. Th e fact that on the EU level
around 99% of enterprises (fi rms) are small or medium size enterprises imposes the need
to approach this issue as a sociological phenomenon of priority, since it provides the key
solutions to many existential problems of the contemporary society – economic growth
and development, competitiveness of the fi rm, opening new and maintaining existing employment
positions. Th e aim of the paper is to identify the strategic documents and action
plans created by the European Union, as well as other programs of fi nancing small and
medium size enterprises, defi ning coordinates of stipulation and development of the SME
sector and thus the society in general. In this study we have used the methods of induction
and deduction and comparative analysis. Th e statistical data are analyzed by means of
adequate statistical and mathematical methods. Th e research results suggest that there
are numerous possibilities for the stipulation and development of small and medium size
enterprises as a crucial entrepreneurial “medium” within the EU framework that needs to
be generated and supported since it is the only way for the EU, i.e. EU
Keywords
small and medium size enterprises; the European Union; competitiveness; development
Hrčak ID:
60700
URI
Publication date:
10.10.2010.
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