Communication from the Ministry of Industry and Trade No 7 / 2023 Coll.
Communication from the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the publication of the Czech version of Commission Recommendation 2003 / 361 / EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
Valid
7
COMMUNICATION
Ministry of Industry and Trade
of 5 January 2023
on the publication of the Czech text of Commission Recommendation 2003 / 361 / EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
According to Article II (3) of Act No 359 / 2022 Coll., amending Act No 395 / 2009 Coll., on significant market power in the sale and misuse of agricultural and food products, as amended, the Ministry of Trade declares the Czech text of Commission Recommendation 2003 / 361 / EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises ("Commission Recommendation '). The Commission Recommendation is annexed to this Communication.
Minister:
Ing. Síkela v. r.
Annex to Communication No 7 / 2023 Coll.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE COMMISSION
of 6 May 2003
on the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
(notified under document number C (2003) 1422)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2003 / 361 / EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the second indent of Article 211 thereof,
(1) In the report submitted to the Council in 1992 at the request of the Industry Council, held on 28 May 1990, the Commission proposed to limit the extension of the definitions of small and medium-sized enterprises used at Community level. Commission Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC of 3 April 1996 on the definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (1) was based on the idea that the existence of different definitions at Community and national level could lead to incoherence. According to the logic of the single market without internal borders, the treatment of enterprises should be based on a set of common rules. Monitoring such an approach is all the more necessary because of the extensive interaction between national and Community measures which help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, for example, in conjunction with structural funds or research. This means that situations need to be avoided where the Community focuses its measures on one category of small and medium-sized enterprises and the Member States on another. Furthermore, the application of the same definition by the Commission, the Member States, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) would be considered to improve the coherence and effectiveness of policies aimed at SMEs and thus reduce the risk of distortions of competition.
(2) Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC is widely applied by Member States and the definitions set out in its Annex have been incorporated into 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 (2). In addition to the need to adapt Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC to the economic development referred to in Article 2 of its Annex, account must be taken of a number of interpretation difficulties encountered in its application as well as of reservations received from undertakings. In view of the number of amendments that now need to be made to Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC and in the interests of clarity, it is appropriate to replace the recommendation.
(3) It should also be clarified that, in accordance with Articles 48, 81 and 82 of the Treaty, as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Communities, any entity, irrespective of its legal form, carrying out an economic activity, including entities engaged in craft or other activities as self-employed or family undertakings, partnerships or associations normally engaged in an economic activity, should be regarded as an undertaking.
(4) The number of employees criterion ("employee criterion ') undoubtedly remains one of the most important criteria and must be maintained as the main criterion. However, the introduction of the financial criterion is a necessary complement to enable the firm to understand the real scale and performance and its position compared with its competitors. However, it would not be desirable to use turnover as a single financial criterion, in particular because commercial and distribution undertakings have a higher turnover on their basis than manufacturing companies. The turnover criterion should therefore be combined with the balance sheet criterion of the annual balance sheet, which is a criterion which reflects the total value of the undertaking, with the possibility of exceeding one of those criteria.
(5) The turnover ceiling applies to undertakings carrying out very diverse types of economic activity. In order not to unduly restrict the usefulness of applying the definition, this ceiling should be updated to take account of price and productivity changes.
(6) Since there is no new knowledge regarding the balance sheet ceiling, it is justified to maintain an approach whereby a coefficient based on the statistical ratio between the two variables is applied to the turnover ceilings. Statistical trends require a higher turnover ceiling. Since this trend varies between size categories of enterprises, it is also appropriate to adjust the coefficient to reflect as far as possible the economic trend and not to put micro and small enterprises at a disadvantage as compared to medium-sized enterprises. This coefficient is very close to 1 for micro and small enterprises. In order to simplify the matter, it is necessary to select one value for these categories for the turnover ceiling and the balance sheet ceiling.
(7) As in Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC, the financial and staff ceilings represent maximum values and the Member States, the EIB and the EIF may set ceilings lower than those of the Commission if they wish to direct their measures to a specific category of SMEs. In the interests of administrative simplification, Member States, the EIB and the EIF may use only one criterion in implementing certain policies - the number of employees. However, this does not apply to different rules in competition law, where financial criteria must also be applied and respected.
(8) Following the approval of the European Charter of Small Enterprises by the Santa Maria da Feira European Council in June 2000, micro-enterprises - a category of small enterprises of particular importance for the development of entrepreneurship and job creation - should also be better defined.
(9) In order to better understand the true economic position of small and medium-sized enterprises and to remove from this category groups of undertakings whose economic strength may exceed that of real small and medium-sized enterprises, it is necessary to distinguish between different types of undertakings depending on whether they are independent, whether they have shares that do not mean the ability to control another undertaking (partner undertakings) or whether they are interconnected. The current limit value set out in Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC of 25% for the holding under which an undertaking can be considered as independent remains.
(10) In order to encourage business creation, the financing of SMEs' own resources and rural development and local development, undertakings may be considered as independent, although they hold shares of more than 25% of a certain category of investors who play a positive role in the financing and creation of enterprises. However, these investors have not previously been subject to conditions. A special reference is due to the case of "business angels' (individuals or groups of individuals engaged in a normal venture capital activity), as their ability to provide new entrepreneurs with the necessary advice is extremely valuable compared to other venture capital investors. Their equity investments also complement the activities of venture capital companies as they provide smaller amounts in the early stages of the firm's life.
(11) In order to simplify this matter, in particular for Member States and businesses, the conditions laid down in Article 1 of Council Directive 83 / 349 / EEC of 13 June 1983, based on Article 54 (3) (g) of the Treaty on consolidated accounts (3), as last amended by Directive 2001 / 65 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), should be used to define linked undertakings, provided that these conditions are appropriate for the purposes of this Recommendation. In order to strengthen incentives to invest in the own resources of a small or medium-sized enterprise, a presumption of lack of decisive influence on the undertaking concerned was introduced in monitoring the criteria of Article 5 (3) of Council Directive 78 / 660 / EEC of 25 July 1978, based on Article 54 (3) (g) of the Treaty, on the annual accounts of certain types of companies (5), as last amended by Directive 2001 / 65 / EC.
(12) Where appropriate, account should also be taken of the relationships between undertakings that arise through natural persons, in order to ensure that the benefits of small and medium-sized enterprises from different rules or measures can only be used by undertakings that actually need them. In order to reduce the examination of these situations to the minimum necessary, account has been taken of these relations to relevant markets or to neighbouring markets - referring, where appropriate, to the definition of the Commission "relevant market 'in the Commission notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law (6).
(13) In order to avoid any discussion between different public bodies in a Member State and in view of the need for legal certainty, it is considered necessary to confirm that an undertaking in which 25% or more of its capital or voting rights are controlled by a public body is not a small or medium-sized enterprise.
(14) In order to reduce the administrative burden on undertakings and to simplify and accelerate the administrative treatment of cases where the status of SMEs is required, it is appropriate to allow undertakings to use an honest declaration to demonstrate some of their characteristics.
(15) It is necessary to establish in detail the composition of staff for the purposes of the definition of SMEs. In order to promote the development of vocational training and superstructure courses, it is desirable not to take into account apprentices and students with vocational training contracts when calculating the number of employees. Similarly, maternity or parental leave should not be counted.
(16) The different types of undertakings defined according to their relationship with other undertakings objectively correspond to different degrees of integration. It is therefore appropriate to apply to each of these types of undertakings different procedures for calculating the values which reflect their activities and economic strength,
HEREBY RECOMMENDS:
1. This Recommendation concerns the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises used in Community policies applied within the Community and within the European Economic Area.
2. the Member States, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are invited to:
(a) comply with the head I Annexes to their programmes aimed at medium-sized enterprises, small enterprises or micro-enterprises;
(b) take the necessary steps to use the size categories set out in Article 7 of the Annex, in particular as regards monitoring the use of Community financial instruments.
The ceilings referred to in Article 2 of the Annex shall be considered as the maximum values. Member States, the EIB and the EIF may set lower ceilings. In implementing some of their policies, they may also use only the number of employees as a single criterion, except in areas governed by different State aid rules.
This Recommendation replaces Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC as from 1 January 2005.
This Recommendation is addressed to the Member States, the EIB and the EIF.
They are required to inform the Commission, by 31 December 2004, of any measures they take following this Recommendation, and by 30 September 2005 at the latest, of the first results of its implementation.
Done at Brussels, 6 May 2003.
For the Commission
Erkki LIIKANEN
Member of the Commission
ANNEX
DEFINITION OF MICROENCIES AND SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES BY THE COMMISSION
Company
Any entity carrying out an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form, shall be understood as an undertaking. These entities include, in particular, self-employed persons and family businesses engaged in craft or other activities and commercial companies or associations which normally carry out an economic activity.
Number of employees and financial ceilings defining enterprise categories
(1) The category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises shall be composed of enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 50 million and / or whose annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 43 million.
2. Within the SME category, small enterprises are defined as enterprises which employ fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and / or balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.
3. Within the SME category, micro-enterprises are defined as employing fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and / or balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.
Types of undertakings taken into account in the calculation of the number of employees and financial values
1. "Independent undertaking" shall mean any undertaking which is neither a partner undertaking within the meaning of paragraph 2 nor a linked undertaking within the meaning of paragraph 3.
2. "Partner undertakings" means all undertakings which are not classified as linked undertakings within the meaning of paragraph 3 and which have the following relationship: an undertaking (parent undertaking) owns itself or jointly with one or more connected undertakings within the meaning of paragraph 3 25% or more of the capital; or
voting rights of another undertaking (subsidiary).
However, an undertaking may be classified as an independent undertaking and therefore has no partner undertaking, even if the following investors have reached or exceeded the 25% threshold, provided that such investors are not individually or jointly linked within the meaning of paragraph 3 to the undertaking concerned:
(a) public investment companies, venture capital companies, individuals or groups of individuals engaged in a normal venture capital investment activity (business angels) which invest equity capital in non-listed undertakings, provided that the total investment of such business angels in the same undertaking amounts to less than EUR 1.250,000;
(b) universities or non-profit research centres;
(c) institutional investors, including regional development funds;
(d) independent local authorities with an annual budget of less than EUR 10 million and less than 5000 inhabitants.
3. "Connected undertakings" means undertakings between which there is one of the following relationships:
(a) the undertaking holds a majority of voting rights belonging to members or members in another undertaking;
(b) the undertaking has the right to appoint or withdraw a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of another undertaking;
(c) the undertaking has the right to exercise a decisive influence in another undertaking under a contract concluded with that undertaking or under a provision in the founding contract (s) or the statutes of that undertaking;
(d) an undertaking which is a member of another undertaking shall itself, in accordance with an agreement concluded with other members or members of that undertaking, control the majority of the voting rights belonging to the members or members of that undertaking.
It is assumed that the decisive influence is not exercised if the investors referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 are not directly or indirectly involved in the management of the undertaking, without prejudice to their rights as members.
Undertakings between which and one or more other undertakings or between which and one of the investors referred to in paragraph 2 exists one of the relationships described in the first subparagraph shall also be considered as linked.
Undertakings having one or more such relationships with a natural person or with a group of natural persons acting together shall also be considered as connected undertakings if they carry out their activities or part of their activities on the same relevant market or on neighbouring markets.
A "neighbouring market 'is considered to be a market for goods or services directly linked to the relevant market.
4. Except in the cases referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2, an undertaking may not be regarded as a small or medium-sized enterprise if 25% or more of the capital or voting rights are controlled directly or indirectly, jointly or individually, by one or more public bodies.
5. Undertakings may issue a declaration of their status as an independent undertaking, partner undertaking or linked undertaking, indicating the data relating to the ceilings set out in Article 2. A statement may be issued even if the share capital is distributed in a way that does not allow the precise identification of the person holding it, in which case the undertaking may state in good faith that it can legitimately assume that it is not owned by another undertaking or joint undertakings linked to each other of 25% or more. Such declarations shall be made without prejudice to checks and investigations carried out under national or Community rules.
Data used in calculating the number of employees and financial values and the reference period
1. The figures used in calculating the number of employees and the financial values shall be those relating to the last approved accounting year calculated over a period of one year. These data are taken into account from the date of the accounts. The amount chosen for the amount of turnover is calculated excluding value added tax (VAT) and other indirect taxes.
2. Where, on the date of the accounts, an undertaking finds that the number of its employees for a given annual period has exceeded the ceilings for the number of workers or the financial ceilings referred to in Article 2, that fact shall not result in the loss or acquisition of the position of a medium or small enterprise or a micro-enterprise if those thresholds are not exceeded for two consecutive financial years.
3. In the case of newly created enterprises whose accounts have not yet been closed, the data used in the calculation shall be derived from estimates made in good faith during the accounting year.
Number of employees
The number of employees corresponds to the number of annual labour units (RPJ), i.e. the number of persons employed full-time in or on behalf of the undertaking for the whole reference year. The work of persons who have not worked throughout the year, the work of persons who have worked part-time regardless of their length, and the work of seasonal workers shall be counted as fractions of the RPJ. The number of employees shall consist of:
(a) staff;
(b) persons working for an undertaking in a subordinate position who are considered to be employees in accordance with national law;
(c) owners-managers,
(d) members involved in the normal activity of an undertaking which benefits from financial advantages from the undertaking.
Teachers or students involved in training under an apprenticeship or vocational training contract shall not be included in the number of employees. The length of maternity or parental leave shall not be counted.
Compilation of farm data
1. In the case of an independent undertaking, the data, including the number of employees, shall be compiled exclusively on the basis of the accounts of that undertaking.
2. The data, including the number of employees, of the undertaking that has partner undertakings or connected undertakings, shall be drawn up on the basis of the accounts and other data of the firm or on the basis of the consolidated accounts of the firm, if any, or consolidated accounts to which the firm is included in the consolidation.
The data referred to in the first subparagraph shall be added to the data relating to all partner undertakings of the undertaking concerned that are directly linked to it. Aggregation corresponds to a percentage of the capital or voting rights (whichever is higher). For mutual ownership, a higher percentage shall be used.
The data referred to in the first and second subparagraphs shall be accompanied by 100% of the values of all undertakings which are directly or indirectly linked to the undertaking, unless those values are already included in the consolidated accounts.
3. For the purposes of applying paragraph 2, data on the partner undertakings of the undertaking concerned shall be obtained from the accounting records of those partner undertakings and from other data thereof, consolidated if any. These data shall be added to 100% of the data relating to the undertakings linked to those partner undertakings, unless their accounting data have already been included in the consolidated accounts.
For the purposes of applying paragraph 2, data on undertakings linked to that undertaking shall be obtained from their accounts and other data of that undertaking, consolidated if any. Such data shall be aggregated proportionally for all potential linked enterprises that are directly linked to them, unless their accounting data have already been included in the consolidated financial statements in a proportion corresponding to at least the percentage specified in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2.
4. If the number of employees of the undertaking does not appear in the consolidated financial statements, the calculation of that number shall be made by proportional aggregation of the data relating to the undertakings with which the undertaking is a partner and by adding data relating to the undertakings with which the undertaking is linked.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Statistical data
The Commission shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the statistics compiled by it correspond to the following size categories of undertakings:
(a) 0 to 1 person;
(b) 2 to 9 persons;
(c) 10 to 49 persons;
(d) 50 to 249 persons.
References
1. All Community legislation or Community programmes which will be amended or adopted and which contain the term "small and medium-sized enterprises'," micro-enterprise ', "small enterprise' or" medium-sized enterprise 'or any other similar term should refer to the definition contained in this Recommendation.
2. As a transitional measure, the current Community programmes applying the definition of SMEs pursuant to Recommendation 96 / 280 / EC will continue to be implemented in favour of enterprises which were considered small or medium-sized at the time of adoption of those programmes. The legally binding commitments made by the Commission under these programmes remain unaffected.
Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, any amendment to the definition of SMEs in the programmes may be made only by adopting the definition contained in this Recommendation in accordance with paragraph 1.
Revision
On the basis of a review of the application of the definition set out in this Recommendation, to be drawn up by 31 March 2006, and taking into account any amendments to Article 1 of Directive 83 / 349 / EEC with regard to the definition of linked undertakings within the meaning of that Directive, the Commission shall, where appropriate, adapt the definition set out in that Recommendation, and in particular the cap on turnover and balance sheet total of the annual balance sheet in order to take account of experience and economic developments in the Community.
1. OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 4.
2. ANNEX
3. ANNEX
4. ANNEX
5) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671. ANNEX
6) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671. OJ C 372, 9.12.1997, p. 5.
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Communication from the Ministry of Industry and Trade No 7 / 2023 Coll., on the publication of the Czech version of Commission Recommendation 2003 / 361 / EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | - |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 11.01.2023 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | - |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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