(1)

Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 established a common framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of Community statistics on the structure, activity, competitiveness and performance of businesses in the Community.

(2)

It is necessary to plan the use of the flexible module referred to in Article 3(2)(j) of that Regulation in close cooperation with Member States and to decide its scope, list of characteristics, reference period, activities to be covered and quality requirements.

(3)

Access to finance is a major policy constraint in most Member States and the Community alike. There is strong evidence that European enterprises suffer from a financing gap, especially if they grow fast or if they are characterised as young firms. Therefore statistics are needed to enable the situation of these enterprises to be analysed in comparison to all small and medium-sized enterprises. These data should be extracted from existing sources if possible.

(4)

Any further necessary technical details will be subject to guidelines and recommendations elaborated by the Commission (Eurostat) in close cooperation with Member States.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee,

(a)

the relevance of the ownership situation at the start of the enterprise and at the observation time for access to finance;

(b)

the degree and success rates of all attempts to obtain various sorts of internal and external financing and the reasons for not obtaining such financing;

(c)

the extent of guarantees for business loans;

(d)

the perception by the owner/manager of the cost and burden of obtaining business loans and of the enterprise’s financial situation;

(e)

the importance of the choice of financial institution (geographic proximity, in particular cross-border situations, foreign vs. domestic ownership, prior client status, etc.);

(f)

the debt/turnover ratio and other correlations of finance characteristics in the enterprise accounts and their importance for future business growth;

(g)

the perceived need for future financing and its forms and the reasons for this need;

(h)

the perceived link of finance options and their availability and perspectives for employment growth;

(i)

the perception of overall administrative burden on enterprises;

(j)

the effort required to reply to a questionnaire (if any) on access to finance.

(a)

B to E (industry);

(b)

F (construction);

(c)

G to N (services, aggregated except J, K (financial services) and M);

(d)

J (ICT services);

(e)

M (professional, scientific, technical services).

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Germany, Spain, France, Italy and United Kingdom: 1 800 respondent enterprises each, or the equivalent in existing data;

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Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden: 900 respondent enterprises each, or the equivalent in existing data;

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Denmark and Finland: 500 respondent enterprises each, or the equivalent in existing data;

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Latvia and Lithuania: 300 respondent enterprises each, or the equivalent in existing data;

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Cyprus and Malta: 233 respondent enterprises each, or the equivalent in existing data.