EFFECTS OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES SECTOR IN SOME EU MEMBER COUNTRIES - A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Small and medium enterprise sector is considered the engine of economic and social development of a country, appreciation resulting from the fact that, according to statistical data, it generates much of a country's gross domestic product and provides jobs for most employment population. Such an assessment justifies our concern for the research in this field. One of the fundamental problems of any company and, in particular of the small and medium enterprises (SME) is the access to finance, as a condition for their creation, survival and development. Starting from this assessment, our study aims to highlight the possibilities of financing the SME sector in some EU countries and especially the differences that arise between them, and the obstacles that SMEs face in the way of the access to finance, based on studies initiated by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the World Bank. Also, the study aim to highlight the impact of the current crisis over the access to financing for SMEs in the countries examined and measures taken by the national government to support access to finance, particularly bank financing of this sector.

Keywords:

Economic crisis, SME sector external financing, bank loans,

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