ABSTRACT
It is interesting to look at EU documents and governmental strategies on SME development of practically any EU member state from before the crisis. What one finds is a surprising similarity between the analysis and declarations before the onset of the crisis and after it. Even action documents do not differ much. They seem to suggest that trying harder rather than trying new things should get us out of the crisis. The case for SME development, the barriers, obstacles, impediments, but also the cures and policies seem to be the same. The official view of the SME sector starts with analysis that shows SMEs facing tremendous difficulties justifying the need for targeted governmental action in order to foster their growth. Even in the times of generous economic growth, hungry markets, and easy finance the issues for SMEs were always the same: access to finance, access to markets and excess of bureaucracy.
