EU urged to ease cross-border financing

The EU should remove the regulatory barriers that are hindering cross-border financing if European SMEs are to thrive, an association of businesses has said.

In a statement published on 4 November, the association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry identified a lack of risk culture and the fragmented rules for lending money as the two main obstacles for SMEs in the EU.

European small and medium-sized companies have been observed to shift from bank loans to a wider range of financing options, the association said. One of the options considered regularly is seeking financing in other EU member states, but this is often discarded since entrepreneurs soon encounter too many regulatory logjams, Eurochambers said.