The evolution of the forms of support for small to medium size enterprises in Poland after accession to the European Union

This article presents the types, scale and importance of supporting small and medium size enterprises from the structural funds in Poland since the accession to the European Union to the present time. The article presents the definition of small and medium size enterprises and the types of non-refundable and refundable financial support from the EU. The study also shows the amount of support received by Poland in the framework of individual operating programs in the financial perspective of 2004-2006 and 2007-2013 and the possibilities of supporting the sector in the current perspective of 2014-2020. Based on the analysis of data obtained from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, the evolution of existing forms of support for the SME sector in the context of solutions offered by the current financial perspective was presented.