EU's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face growing financial strain amid soaring raw material costs, insolvency spikes, and new trade rules, stirring heated political scrutiny over the next EU budget. The question of how much funding SMEs will receive and what protective measures will be implemented cuts straight to the core of EU economic resilience and industrial competitiveness. Key stakeholders include SMEs themselves, steel producers, and EU policymakers.
This issue was addressed in a parliamentary question submitted on October 15, 2025, by a coalition of MEPs across various political groups including ECR, NI, PfE, and S&D, led by Georgiana Teodorescu, Tobiasz Bocheński, and others. They pressed the European Commission for clarity on financial allocations for SMEs, impact assessment processes, and concrete safeguards against rising steel costs under the Steel and Metals Action Plan.
Commissioner Serafin responded on behalf of the European Commission on November 27, 2025, explaining the multiannual financial framework (MFF) does not earmark budgets specifically by beneficiary type. Instead, support is channeled through instruments like the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) designed to facilitate funding access for SMEs, and via national and regional plans. The Commission emphasized procedural safeguards such as the “SME test” and compulsory “SME check” annexes to assess and mitigate disproportionate burdens.
the Commission commits to simplifying compliance and reducing SME reporting burdens by 35% through various packages while allowing flexibility in steel quotas to stabilize the market. This prioritizes maintaining SME viability without directly increasing earmarked funds, reflecting a trade-off between streamlined support mechanisms and the pressures of regulatory costs.
Affected stakeholders include SMEs, who gain from eased funding access but face ongoing cost pressures from steel price increases; steel producers, influenced by quota adjustments; national authorities managing regional plans; and the Commission itself, tasked with enforcing SME-friendly impact assessments. The expected institutional follow-up will be the publication of the Commission’s response to this question, providing a key indicator of how far the EU intends to adapt policies to SME needs within the upcoming financial framework.
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