SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EU FUNDS IN INVESTMENTS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

Nowadays competitiveness of enterprises is determined by the size and range of implemented investment projects. The investments need to involve necessary resources. In the case of the SME sector, enterprises have limited financial assets. Therefore, Poland’s accession to the European Union and the opportunity to use its funding is a chance for development of this sector. The aim of the paper is to discuss the significance of EU funds in investments of SMEs and to present the most important advantages and barriers to their spending. The research methods used in this paper are: study of literature and analysis of secondary data. The research material comprises programming documents and the results of research carried out at the request of the European Leasing Fund, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the Polish Confederation Lewiatan. Conclusions: EU funding is an attractive source of financing investments for enterprises. It is one of the most affordable forms of obtaining capital. Acquisition of additional financial means can determine the start of an investment, extend its scope, increase its rate and improve its quality. However, in practice the share of EU funds in financing SMEs investments is still small and entrepreneurs face many barriers to using this form of support. Major obstacles include: excessive bureaucracy, strict procedures, over-scrupulous office workers, lengthy verification of payment applications, as well as delays in payments to beneficiaries.