Ana Vasconcelos· Renew

Overestimated

SMEs spend up to 25% of their resources on administrative burden.

Omissions

• The claim does not specify what 'resources' refers to - whether it means total costs, personnel costs, turnover, or working time
• The 25% figure may be confused with the European Commission's TARGET to reduce administrative burden by 25% for all companies (and 35% for SMEs) by 2029, not the current spending level
• Most recent available data (2025) shows significantly lower figures (3.9% of personnel costs) than the claimed 25%

Sources

• PrimaryKFW Research - Focus No. 495: Bureaucracy (April 2025)Work carried out to meet legal requirements accounted for around 3.9% of the annual personnel costs of small and medium-sized enterprises
• PrimaryEuropean Commission - Simplification measures to save EU businesses €400 million annuallyBy 2029, aims to streamline rules and reduce the administrative burdens for businesses by 25%, and for SMEs by 35%