Editing Small and medium enterprises (section)

==== Poland ====
The SME sector in [[Poland]] generates almost 50% of the [[GDP]], and out of that, for instance, in 2011, micro companies generated 29.6%, small companies 7.7%, and medium companies 10.4% (big companies 24.0%; other entities 16.5%, and revenues from customs duties and taxes generated 11.9%). In 2011, out of the total of 1,784,603 entities operating in Poland, merely 3,189 were classified as "large", so 1,781,414 were micro, small, or medium. SMEs employed 6.3 million people out of the total of 9.0 million of labour employed in the private sector. In Poland in 2011 there were 36.2 SMEs per 1,000 inhabitants.<ref>[http://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/1144/1173 D. Walczak, G. Voss, New Possibilities of Supporting Polish SMEs within the Jeremie Initiative Managed by BGK, Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Vol 4, No 9, p. 760-761].</ref>

Nearly seven million people are employed by small businesses in Poland, which accounts for around half of the country's GDP, yet smaller businesses are less likely than larger ones to invest in strategies to combat climate change or boost energy efficiency. In October 2021, the [[Bank Ochrony Środowiska]], a Polish bank that specializes in funding environmental protection initiatives received €75 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for these small enterprises.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=EIB Group Activities in EU cohesion regions in 2021 |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/online/eib-group-activities-in-eu-cohesion-regions-2021 |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=www.eib.org}}</ref>

The Polish bank wants to use at least 50% of the loan for initiatives with a clear emphasis on tackling climate change, such improving building energy efficiency or turning to renewable energy sources like solar power. The money is set to be distributed across Poland, with around 80% of it projected to go to [[Regional policy of the European Union|cohesive]] regions.<ref name=":2" />