Seldom was the mood so good despite the dreary weather outside as the EU executive released its latest report on the state of the bloc's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It found that the number of SMEs in the bloc had risen, reaching a total of roughly 22.3 million.

For the first time in six years, the sector has shown an increase in available jobs, rising 1.2 percent. This has prompted some people to speak of SMEs as Europe's job engine.

The European Commission's director of SME competitiveness (COSME) program, Kristin Schreiber, emphasized that 85 percent of all new jobs in the EU are created in small and medium-sized firms, with start-ups providing new opportunities for young people.

"Start-ups are particularly innovative and flourish in future-oriented sectors such as healthcare and the service sector," Schreiber said.

Her colleague, ICT industries expert Costas Andropolous, added that new jobs were created particularly in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Britain, Malta and Luxembourg, with countries such as Greece and Italy bringing up the rear. In those nations, employment had gone down in the past year.

But overall, "SMEs are back again," he concluded.

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