Just two weeks after the government’s announcement of Project Merlin, the European Commission is also planning measures to allow easier access to finance for small firms.

The commission claims it will free up billions of euros from its existing funding programmes for new and emerging companies – and deliver a concrete strategy to help firms secure funding.

British prime minister David Cameron has been pushing the issue with his European counterparts, and recently discussed the future of small business with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso in London.

Speaking about the plans for small business funding, European Commission industry commissioner Antonio Tajani said new and growing firms "are the engine behind our economy and must be kept strong, competitive and innovative."

Tajani added that two-thirds of jobs in the EU’s private sector are attributable to small and medium-sized companies.