ELF’s Executive Director Daniel Kaddik will be speaking today at the conference “Cross-Border Business in times of Digitalisation“, organised byCEA-PME European Entrepreneurs, in collaboration with Von Mises Institute Europe and BVMW and supported by the pilot project DigitaliseSME.

According to a communication of the European Commission and the Industry Committee of the European Parliament, more than 99% of all European enterprises are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), providing more than 90 million jobs and generating 3.9 trillion euro in value added.

At the moment, this definition is under discussion. SMEs are currently defined as enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million”. SMEs deliver a determinant contribution to the creation of jobs and growth and hence achieve and contribute to the economic success of a country.

However, data show that 35% of the businesses do not invest in foreign markets, because of their lack of knowledge of those markets. In 2016, almost 70% of all SME exports (in value) went to other Member States. The rest of the world accounted for only 30% of all SME exports.

A fully-fledged European Single Market would bring benefits to the SMEs. A study funded by the Danish Business Authority finds that “56 million jobs in the EU depend on trade in the Single Market. Out of these, 20 million jobs are directly involved in producing exported goods and services. 16 million jobs are involved with producing inputs to the industries who export directly to the Single Market.

To handle the decision-making process, international activities, cross-border cooperation and strategic alliances will have to be structured so that their culturally-diverse constituents can interact effectively.

We look forward to the discussion!