Eurostat

This is a one-off survey, not intended to be repeated.  Access to finance is crucial to business success and an important factor for economic growth in Europe following the economic crisis in 2007. The purpose of the survey is to:Examine where there may be constraints on the availability of finance, and how those may be changing.Provide evidence on the need for finance (loans, equity and other) in the future, for example to promote growth.Identify the sources from which businesses would wish to obtain this finance.  It is important to be able to compare businesses that have shown sharp growth in recent years with those that have not; and to separate more recently formed businesses from others. As a consequence, the survey will collect information separately for "gazelles" (defined at page 3 below); other high-growth businesses that have been established longer than gazelles; and other businesses. Only businesses with an employment of 10-249 in 2005 and at least 10 employees in 2010 are being covered.

A loan, other than held for trading, is considered as non-performing if satisfies either or both of the following criteria: (a) It is a material loan which is more than 90 days past-due; (b) The debtor is assessed as unlikely to pay its credit obligations in full without realisation of collateral, regardless of the existence of any past-due amount or of the number of days past-due. Non -performing loans include defaulted and impaired loans and follow the harmonised definition of the European Banking Authority (EBA) used for supervisory reporting. The MIP indicator is defined as total gross non-performing loans and advances as % of total gross loans and advances (gross carrying amount), for the reporting sector "domestic banking groups and stand-alone banks, foreign controlled subsidiaries and foreign controlled branches, all institutions". Data on domestically controlled banks are consolidated across borders and sectors at the prudential perimeter of consolidation. Data source: European Central Bank (ECB)

The data on contingent liabilities and potential obligations of government are collected in the context of the Enhanced Economic Governance package (the "six-pack") adopted in 2011. In particular, Council Directive 2011/85 on requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States requires the Member States to publish relevant information on contingent liabilities with potentially large impacts on public budgets, including government guarantees, non-performing loans, and liabilities stemming from the operation of public corporations, including the extent thereof. The liabilities are called “contingent” in the sense that they are by nature only potential and not actual liabilities. Non-performing loans could imply a potential loss for government if these loans were not repaid. This new data collection represents a step towards further transparency of public finances in the EU by giving a more comprehensive picture of EU Member States’ financial positions3 It is to be underlined that contingent liabilities are not part of the general government (Maastricht) debt as defined in the Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community. Eurostat collects and publishes the following indicators: government guarantees, liabilities related to public-private partnerships recorded off-balance sheet of government, liabilities of government controlled entities classified outside general government (public corporations) and non-performing loans. Regarding government controlled entities, it should be mentioned that this refers to  government controlled units, not classified in general government, and which are controlled, directly or indirectly (through other public units), by government. In cases when the government share in a corporation is lower than 50% and government does not have control over an entity, the corporation is not considered as controlled by government. Regarding the control criteria, according to ESA 2010 paragraph 20.18: “Control over an entity is the ability to determine the general policy or programme of that entity (…)”. The criteria to be used for corporations are indicated in ESA 2010 paragraphs 2.38 and further detailed in paragraph 20.309. ESA 2010 paragraph 2.38 specifies that: “General government secures control over a corpo­ration as a result of special legislation, decree or reg­ulation which empowers the government to deter­mine corporate policy. The following indicators are the main factors to consider in deciding whether a corporation is controlled by government:(a) government ownership of the majority of the voting interest; (b) government control of the board or governing body; (c) government control of the appointment and removal of key personnel;(d) government control of key committees in the entity; (e) government possession of a golden share; (f) special regulations; (g) government as a dominant customer; (h) borrowing from government. A single indicator may be sufficient to establish control, but, in other cases, a number of separate indicators may collectively indicate control.”

The table presents the net flow of loans (F.4) for the sectors Non-Financial corporations (S.11), Households (S.14) and Non-Profit institutions serving households (S.15). The debt securities are negotiable financial instruments serving as evidence of debt. Data are presented in non-consolidated terms, i.e. data take into account transactions within the same sector and expressed in % of GDP. Definitions regarding sectors and instruments are based on the ESA 2010.

The table presents the net flow of loans (F.4) for the sectors Non-Financial corporations (S.11), Households (S.14) and Non-Profit institutions serving households (S.15). The debt securities are negotiable financial instruments serving as evidence of debt. Data are presented in non-consolidated terms, i.e. data take into account transactions within the same sector and expressed in Million units of national currency. Definitions regarding sectors and instruments are based on the ESA 2010.