Annual report on European SMEs 2015/2016, SME recovery continues : final report : November 2016

The 2014-2015 SME Annual Report found that in recent years young SMEs created jobs (on a net basis), and the EU needs more young firms to create jobs. There are now no major differences between the EU and the USA as regards new firm creation. Start-ups are key contributors to the innovation and growth dynamics of the EU economy. However, many young enterprises fail in their early years and barriers to starting afresh dampen the potential gains that a strong start-up culture could yield. Public policies supporting more start-up dynamism through second chance will go some way towards improving the environment for start-ups and strengthening the overall employment creation performance of SMEs.