Possibilities of Turkish SMEs to benefit from Europen Union incentives and supports

11 ABSTRACT POSSIBILITIES OF TURKISH SMEs TO BENEFIT FROM EUROPEAN UNION INCENTIVES AND SUPPORTS Esma YOLLU Master Thesis, Business Department Supervisor: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Hatice DÜZAKIN July, 2004, 131 pages Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in the European Union (EU) benefit at large scale from both the Union's own programs and the policies of the member countries that do not prevent competition. With Turkey's integration process into the Custom Union, many new incentives and supports have been provided as a reflection of EU Policies in order to increase the competition abilities of our SMEs. Within the scope of its position and its relationships with EU, Turkey benefits from a large number of programs and economic and social funds, grants and credits. Turkey's candidateship for the EU started at the Helsinki Summit, and as a result has been able to participate and benefit from many policies, funds and programs, many of which enabling SMEs to benefit directly and indirectly. In this study, the supports provided to SMEs in the EU and Turkey, Turkish SMEs' benefiting conditions from EU supports and Turkey's present state at the integration process was investigated. The study has three parts. The first part investigates the incentives and supports provided to Turkish SMEs and the foreseen policies. The second part focuses on SME incentives and supports in the EU and the third part, which investigates Turkish SMEs benefiting opportunities from EU policies and programs, complements and distinguishes the study. Key Words: Turkish SME, European Union SME', EU SME Programs EU Incentives and Supports