‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ (‘SMEs’) means small enterprises and medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (12) or any Regulation replacing that Regulation;

(1) In a report submitted to the Council in 1992 at the request of the "Industry" Council held on 28 May 1990, the Commission had proposed limiting the proliferation of definitions of small and medium-sized enterprises in use at Community level.

(8) In order to eliminate differences that might give rise to distortions of competition, in order to facilitate coordination between different Community and national initiatives concerning small and medium-sized enterprises, and for reasons of administrative clarity and legal certainty, the definition of "small and medium-sized enterprises" used in this Regulation should be that laid down in Commission Recommendation 96/280/EC of 3 April 1996 concerning the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises(5). That definition was also used in the Community guidelines on State aid for s ...[+++]mall and medium-sized enterprises(6).

(8) In order to eliminate differences that might give rise to distortions of competition, in order to facilitate coordination between different Community and national initiatives concerning small and medium-sized enterprises, and for reasons of administrative clarity and legal certainty, the definition of "small and medium-sized enterprises" used in this Regulation should be that laid down in Commission Recommendation 96/280/EC of 3 April 1996 concerning the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises(5). That definition was also used in the Community guidelines on State aid for s ...[+++]mall and medium-sized enterprises(6).

1. Not later than 31 December 2000, on the basis of relevant information communicated by the competent approval authorities, the Commission shall draw up a report on the application of the European type-approval procedures, paying particular, but not exclusive, attention to the impact on small and medium enterprises (SME) involved in multi-stage build, and if appropriate, shall propose the amendments required to improve the harmonisation process.

Each enterprise must be independent - i.e. 25 % of the capital or the voting rights may not be owned by one enterprise, or jointly by several enterprises, falling outside the definition of an SME or a small enterprise.