Access to Finance and Venture Capital for Industrial SMEs

SMEs play a crucial role for European economies. The numbers show the high importance ofSMEs for national economies. Accordingly, it is no surprise that the regulatory frameworkSMEs are imbedded in is the subject of an important political discussion. In the discussion itis frequently mentioned by representatives of SMEs as well as associations of SMEs, that theaccess to finance for SMEs is still inferior. Based on the importance of SMEs for nationaleconomies and the discussion on the accessibility of financial resources for SMEs, it is themain objective of this study to provide solid data on the access of SMEs to financial resources.To provide the data, the study is focusing on four main issues. First of all, the importanceof SMEs for national economies will be shown. After that the financing of SMEs inselected countries will be analysed. Then the availability of venture capital for SMEs will bediscussed. Finally the tax regimes and the influence of the tax system on the access to financefor SMEs will be analysed. Since there is still a large variety among the tax systems of theEuropean Union member states, the study has focused on Austria, France, Germany, Polandand the United Kingdom.