POSITION | SME POLICY | MID CAPS
Introduce mid caps as a company category complementary to SMEs Facilitate targeted policy
June 27, 2023 Introduction Germany is home – with regional differences in density, breadth and depth – to an entrepreneurial Mittelstand sector that is particularly pronounced in many respects, with many family businesses. These also create versatile products and suitable services away from the conurbations and often in partly cross-border value-added networks of small, medium-sized and large companies as well as together with science. Some of these solutions are in demand worldwide. As a general rule, differentiated sector and company structures are a guarantee for the dynamic competitive advantages of German industry. Entrepreneurial ecosystems, clusters and network structures that can withstand constant scrutiny and dynamic change are particularly important in order to be able to develop competence bundles and synergies – and thus competitive advantages. If policymakers in Brussels and Berlin want to stand up for the EU's global competitiveness and strategic resilience as well as for local investment, jobs and growth, practical and future-oriented categories of companies offer a wide range of opportunities. Adequately defined, national and European Mittelstand policy is given clear guidance to develop strategic concepts and concrete measures accurately. In the case of companies, overarching objectives (innovation; climate protection; ...) can be stimulated or size-related disadvantages or vulnerabilities can be compensated for as needed, for example by means of financial support and regulatory relief. For a targeted Mittelstand policy that is also felt across the board, decision-makers in Brussels and Berlin should not only introduce mid caps as a category, but also review the financial thresholds of the SME definition. The European SME definition has been in place since 2005, has long been in need of reform and does not do justice to current and foreseeable developments. This is because sometimes dramatic price developments, for example for energy, raw materials, materials and labor, result in leaps in sales that do not reflect the actual development of value creation. The BDI already presented reform proposals for the European SME definition in April 2018 (BDI: Making the European SME definition fit for the future).
Fabian Wehnert | SMEs and Family Businesses | T: +49 30 2028-1470 | f.wehnert@bdi.eu | www.bdi.eu