The annual SME Assembly, the largest event for small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe, is a key part of European SME Week and helps shape the governance of the Small Business Act. This year, the Assembly was held in Budapest, Hungary, from 18–20 November 2024, hosted by the European Commission and the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The conference culminated in the "Policy Conclusions of the SME Assembly 2024" session, where key speakers shared ideas and strategies to enhance the long-term competitiveness of European SMEs. Key themes from the discussions included innovation, sustainability, better regulation, the digital transition, and mental health/human sustainability. With global conflicts driving up costs, climate challenges, and increasing regulatory burdens, it is crucial that European SMEs build on their strengths and collaborate to become resilient and sustainable.

Andreas Hauptmann, Denmark's SME Envoy, stressed, "We must ensure our ambitious goals are not just goals – it's time to bring our ideas to the table" to close the innovation and investment gap and create a competitive European Single Market.

Reflecting on the Schumpeter lecture, delivered by Professor Wiklund at the opening of the Assembly, Outi Slotboom, Director of Strategy and Economic Analysis at DG GROW (European Commission) asserted that "simply copying approaches is not the right model". Outi underscored Europe's strengths, highlighting sustainability as a key opportunity to both tackle the climate criis and to drive its competitiveness. 

You can watch the full session here to discover how Europe can empower its SMEs to thrive and maintain competitiveness at a global scale.

Explore the incredible graphical recordings providing a visual overview of the key themes here.