It will include new initiatives to reduce the regulatory burden on SMEs, facilitate access to Single Market/public procurement, help provide necessary financial/human resources for SME development, and help SMEs face the challenge of globalization and climate change.

The preparation of a "Small Business Act" for Europe is one of the key measures announced in the Commission's package for the next cycle of the Growth and Jobs Strategy, which was adopted last December.

The consultation will be open until the end of March, and a public hearing on the Small Business Act will take place on February 6th in Brussels.

Commenting on the launch of the public consultation, Vice President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, explained that:

"The crucial role of SMEs and entrepreneurs for Europe's competitiveness has now been well recognised. With the SBA we aim at fully unlocking this immense potential. But for this we need to know about all the problems to solve, all the opportunities to seize. Every opinion matters and I call on everyone to contribute."

The document underpinning the consultation identified six areas to be examined, but the EC acknowledged that other areas may emerge from the public consultation.

The six key areas were:

• Better regulation for the benefit of SMEs
• Putting SMEs at the forefront of society
• SME access to markets
• SME access to finance, skills and innovation
• Turning the environmental challenge into opportunities for SMEs
• Enhancing the implementation of EU SME policy principles.

The European Commission aims at proposing the "Small Business Act" for Europe in June of this year.