Focusing on SMEs
News 2012
[2012-02-17] Survey confirms that European Standards help businesses to improve quality of services. The results of the study have been published by CEN at the end of January 2012.
[2012-01-19] www.cencenelec.eu: new joint website provides easy access to general information about European Standards.
***
SMEs and standards - an overview
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form a central part of the economy. Around 95 percent of all European companies are SMEs.
In Austria, this group even accounts for 99 percent of all enterprises according to the criteria defined by the EU.
Although the relationship between SMEs and standardisation sometimes seems to be ambivalent, standards are of special importance for SMEs and, moreover, SMEs play an important role in standardisation. Here are a few examples:
Standards provide reassurance: Those who orientate to standards and comply with standards can be sure that their products or services live up to the state of the art and, thus, are “marketable”.
Standards offer reliable know-how for SMEs: Those who apply standards rely on sound and well-accepted expertise, are aware of the requirements to be met by their products and services and can prove their reliability and safety by means of standardised testing methods.
Standards facilitate market access for SMEs: They ensure fair competition through harmonised specifications — for big and small players alike.
Read more about
- the role of SMEs in standards development
- benefits offered by standards
- success stories: SMEs that succeed through standardisation
- the SME definition of the European Commission
