It means that situations in which the Community focuses its action on a given category of SMEs and the Member States on another must be avoided. In addition, it was considered that the application of the same definition by the Commission, the Member States, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) would improve the consistency and effectiveness of policies targeting SMEs and would, therefore, limit the risk of distortion of competition.
En outre, il a été considéré que le respect d'une même définition par la Commission, les États membres, la Banque européenne d'investissement (BEI) et le Fonds européen d'investissement (FEI) renforcerait la cohérence et l'efficacité de l'ensemble des politiques visant les PME et limiterait ainsi les risques de distorsion de concurrence.