Czech Business Today

The European Union is the biggest exporter in the world. EU exports represent 13% of its GDP. However, it seems that it will not be easy to keep the first place. 

From 2015 onward, the 90% of the world growth might be recorded outside the EU, especially in China. Therefore the EU is challenged and has to react to new trends and ensure that persisting barriers on the third markets will be removed to the benefit of EU businesses. The access to the third markets is difficult especially for small and medium-sized business, which must deal with different regulations, standards and protection measures (e.g. uneasy access to public tenders and raw materials) and with insufficient IPR protection. When going international, the SMEs traditionally look for support on their doorstep. EU Member states have set up complex structures to support businesses when entering the third markets with a wide range of services (trade missions, information and analyses of targeted markets, support to participate in fairs, business to business matchmaking, workshops etc.). To the national structure of support services we must add existing support networks built up by chambers of commerce, employers´ organisations and SMEs´ associations. These structures must be taken into consideration when setting up new EU structures to avoid any duplication in services provided. 

According to the European Commission survey, only 24% internationalised SMEs are aware of public support programmes for internationalisation. A very small part of them are microenterprises. On May 16 the Commission launched a public consultation on internationalization of SMEs aimed at ensuring better coordination of existing national support tools and proposing more coherent SME support for penetrating the third markets. The Commission envisages setting up EU gateway for internationalization. It might be a good tool providing SMEs with important information. 

Nevertheless, it must be ensured that such a supporting tool will be known to many SMEs unlike very performing EU Market access database, and interconnected with national tools. Any raising awareness of EC´s tools should be made by local entities (national and local government, chambers, media) and communication campaign should be co-financed by the Commission. As for the EU programmes and tools that the Commission could propose to strengthen existing support tools, the most effective instruments for the SME internationalization are the programmes facilitating business contacts for EU SMEs in third countries (B2B meetings, matchmakings and fairs). 

However, traveling outside the EU represents significant costs for transport and accommodation and some SMEs cannot afford international journeys expenses. Therefore the EU programmes focusing on internationalization should take into account the possibility of co-financing of travels and accommodation costs of participating SMEs. Today, within the EU programmes, these costs can be reimbursed only to SMEs from third countries. This is not an understandable approach to many European businesses. There also rises a question whether we might open the contact events organized in a third country and co-financed by the EU also to companies who are not project partners. In its working paper on internationalization, the Commission mentions that it would like to motivate the Member States to provide support services in third countries also to other, not only national, SMEs. However, it could pose a problem. Some national agencies and governments providing national support to their national SMEs can´t charge foreign SMEs for their paid services as they are only destined (and co-financed by the State) to national SMEs. This lack of finance could be only covered by EU money. 

The Chamber made a small contribution to improve the knowledge of the entrepreneurs about the current debate in the EU by distributing a concise compendium of the main strategic documents adopted by the EU recently and a short review of all the legislation tabled during last several months relevant to business including the position of Czech Chamber of Commerce, EUROCHAMBRES and UEAPME on these subjects to the delegates. The Compendium will be published on the Chamber´s website and updated regularly. The Chamber invited the delegates and all Chamber members to take active part in the consultation of the European legislation. 

Ivan Voleš,
Chief Advisor of the President of Czech Chamber of Commerce Member of the EESC