The contribution of SME's to the Maltese economy : policy implications

Abstract

Most EU economies are dependent on the SME sector since they are critical providers of employment and gross value added. During past years, the European Union has put a whole new dimension to the SME concept, by identifying shortcomings that impeded the development of the SME sector throughout its Member States. As a result of this, each and every Member State had to adhere to these new policy regimes which were proposed by the European Union through the formulation of the 'Small Business Act'. The aim of this paper is to analyse how EU international policy has been integrated into national policy, to best suit the local context. With the use of a questionnaire those policy measures that have played a significant role in facilitating the operating environment of local SMEs were highlighted.