SPECIAL REPORT / Pan-European venture capital and US-style 'angel investors' are set to be boosted to fight a continuing malaise in Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector, along with measures to reduce red tape.
A report on innovation published in late September by the European Commission noted that since 2009, access to bank loans has deteriorated in more than half of EU member states.
Access to credit was the easiest in Finland, followed by Latvia, Sweden, Poland and Austria. But it remained ''relatively difficult'' or has worsened in Ireland, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Hungary, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain, the report said.
To read the original article: Venture capital impetus to counter SME finance malaise | EurActiv
