Swedish Presidency 2023: SMEs’ Competitiveness & International Trade

1 in 7 jobs in Europe depend on trade with the rest of the world. 600 thousand SMEs trade overseas and they have benefitted from EU free trade agreements (FTAs). More than a third of the trade between the EU and the rest of the world is covered by preferential provisions of an FTA and have opened a two-way market between developed countries and emerging economies. SMEs can enter a foreign market with lower cost than before. Moreover, importing costs are lower because of reduced tariffs for imported goods than prior to FTAs.

But, there is still a lot of red tape to trade overseas, particularly for SMEs. Often trade related information is not understood because of the complex nature of text. Constantly changing exporting regulations and high administrative burden to comply with customs procedures are one of the few disadvantages SMEs have against big companies.

Can the situation be steered towards benefitting SMEs, when Sweden has taken over the Presidency for the next six months and there are several decisions to be made regarding EU’s pending trade deals, including FTA with Mercosur bloc? How can SMEs benefit from this economic and trade partnership when there are still barriers out of their direct control, i.e. timely payments from overseas?

The upcoming event will bring together policymakers, industry stakeholders, and SME representatives to share experiences and best practices on how to help SMEs to step on the global trade arena and reduce this untouched potential of the FTAs.