Today’s landscape of exports and imports has in many ways become simpler thanks to the European single market. However, that’s only one piece of the pie. Exporting and importing can still be a mish-mash of conflicting information and requirements depending on which countries and markets you wish to target. If only there were a support network out there designed to help SMEs thrive on the global market… But wait, there is!
The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) was launched with Beci and Hub.brussels by the European Commission in 2008 to promote internationalisation and innovation among European SMEs. It is a network of business support organisations spread across more than 60 countries. Simply put, the EEN helps SMEs who wish to sell their products internationally actually succeed in doing so, whether they need support with exporting, importing, finding new suppliers or re-exporting goods. To do this, an extensive international network of experts work together to share key information and provide personalised support to SMEs.
The EEN offers basic and advanced services depending on the needs of the business. These can be broken down into three main categories: information, advice and partnering support. Jean-Philippe Mergen, director of internationalisation at Beci and manager of Enterprise Europe Brussels (the local EEN contact point for the capital region) tells us more.
A real network
Companies with a specific question relating to importing or exporting can contact their local EEN branch to get an answer. “When we get a question on a specific market or specific regulation, we contact our colleagues in the country who can give us the right information,” explains Mergen. For example, a company exporting textiles to the Canary islands needed to know whether they needed a certification for each product due to new regulations on textile waste in the region. “I contacted my counterpart there and got a very detailed answer about what the company must do to comply with local authorities.”
Exporting advice
The EEN can also provide further advice, coaching companies to create an action plan. “We start with an intake assessment of the company to understand more about their business, what they do and what they want to achieve. We also assess their capacity to internationalise. If they’re not ready, we give them a lot of advice so that they better understand what they have to do.”
Companies may be overambitious when they set out, but Mergen recommends narrowing the scope in order to set specific goals. In the end, the goal may be to export all over the world but it can be better to start small. Within the European Union, there are no customs to contend with but beyond its borders, there are a host of different rules and regulations, import and export taxes, and new paperwork to comply with. The EEN helps SMEs obtain the right information on the rules they need to comply with in order to export to a specific country.
Partnership opportunities
The third way in which the EEN can help is by supporting companies in their quest for new business contacts. Some companies may be looking for new franchises, a distributor, importer or commercial agent. The EEN has an online partnership platform with thousands of company profiles from all over the world. These profiles are posted by EEN experts, such as Jean-Philippe Mergen at Beci, making them anonymous. With all initial contact going through EEN experts, companies don’t waste time filtering out unsuitable partnership opportunities. Once a potentially beneficial partner has been identified, it is up to companies to come to an agreement and sign a contract (for which advice can also be given).
Mergen emphasises that the strength of the EEN is that it is a network. “I have more than 2,500 contacts all over the world, doing the same as me. I can contact them directly with the needs of the company and its profile to get specific information or partnership opportunities tailored to them.”
While the EEN puts the expertise of its network at the service of SMEs, it also gives SMEs the opportunity to expand their own network through matchmaking events: B2B meetings between companies, often at trade fairs. These meetings are organised in advance using an online platform where companies fill in their profile and ask for meetings with their target companies.
An invaluable service for SMEs
Although it sounds as if all of these business opportunities and support must come at a premium, these services are free of charge for SMEs. The EEN is co-financed by the EU (funding 60% of the project) and the network’s organisations themselves (who fund the remaining 40%). This means that SMEs can receive invaluable and highly relevant information for no cost. “In return, we ask companies to give us feedback. We trace every service we provide in order to analyse the benefit for the company,” explains Jean-Philippe Mergen. “It’s not just about giving companies lots of addresses and foreign contacts but trying to help the company until they achieve some results.”
Even companies who already have robust export-import activities may benefit from the EEN’s services. Mergen recalls lots of uncertainty among SMEs due to shifts in the geopolitical landscape. Brexit, for instance, meant that a lot of companies were suddenly having to deal with customs, taxes, CE marking and the equivalent marking system in the UK. Three years ago, when Russia invaded Ukraine, businesses were unsure whether they were still permitted to trade with Russia and how to organise payment. The new tariffs being imposed by the United States on European goods will surely keep many companies on their toes, but the EEN can help as details continue to emerge.
There is lots of assistance out there for SMEs but it’s a case of knowing where to look. “Often companies don’t know what resources are available to them,” Mergen points out. The EEN can help point SMEs in the right direction.
Jean-Philippe Mergen offers a parting piece of advice for companies looking to expand their export operations: “I always advise companies to check whether the EU has a free-trade agreement with the target country. Vietnam, Singapore, Mexico and Canada, for example, have a free-trade agreement with the EU. This means that companies can benefit from lower import duties when they export to these countries, giving them a competitive advantage over competitors in non-EU countries.”
The EEN in Brussels – Enterprise Europe Brussels – is run jointly by Beci and hub.brussels. While hub.brussels offers support with innovation, Beci helps businesses with their internationalisation and importing-exporting objectives. Check www.brusselsnetwork.be for more information or contact international@beci.be to get personalised advice.
