Ipsos Survey A study of the Business Section of the Your Europe Portal. 1

Table of Content 1.Objectives & Methodology of the Survey 2.Audience & Archetypal User 3.Topics: Existing & New 4.Sectors of Interest 5.Countries & Languages of choice 6.Awareness, Relevance and Use of the Portal 7.Information Channels & Modalities 8.Conclusions 2

1.Objectives & Methodology of the Survey 3 Objectives  Contact 1800 companies in the 27 EU Member States  Create a potential user/audience profile  Find out concrete fields of interests  Understand communication behaviour  Assess the current awareness of the portal.

1.Objectives & Methodology of the Survey 4 Methodology  Kompas Database + Online Access Panel  Cati To web Approach  Contacted  5918 Recruited  2181 Connected

2. Audience & Archetypal User 5 Audience  Average 42,4 years old  66% Men >< 34% Women  Company size: Very Small 37%, Small 28%, Medium 21%, Large 14%  In Country side: 73%  Near a border: 80%  Already carrying out business abroad: 59%  Sectors: Services 51%, Industry 28%, Trade 21% NMS10 M:63% W:37% EU15 M:69% W:31%

2. Audience & Archetypal User Archetypal User 6  42,4 years old Man  From Small Company  Established in the countryside  Near a border  Already carrying out business abroad  In Services Sector ? NMS10: Age: 40,46 EU15: Age: 43,74

3. Topics: Existing & New 7 Existing Topics  Not very clear for many respondents. Ranking of existing topics:  Access to Finance: 68% (NMS10: 67,17% - EU15: 61,67%)  Start a Business: 54% (NMS10: 38,92% - EU15: 58,73%)  Market information: 50% (NMS10: 59,83% - EU15: 50,47%)  Funding / Bank Loans: 45%  Buy a Business: 45%

3. Topics: Existing & New 8 New Proposed Topics  Business Collaboration: 84%  Labour Market: 82%  Information for Cross-border service providers: 78%  Training and Education for businesses: 75% Suggested Topics  Taxation  Comparisons Between Countries  Business Collaboration  Recruitment  Import / Export Business Collaboration NMS10: 94,58% EU15: 78,73%

3. Topics: Existing & New 9 Cross Border Services (Concrete information about how the so called Services Directive will be implemented by December 2009) 1.One-stop-shop and online services for completing all formalities in each EU Country: 75% 2.Personal advice/Contact information for cross border services: 74% One-stop Shop NMS10:77% EU15: 75% Personal Advice NMS10:78% EU15: 72%

4. Sectors of Interest 10 Most Important Sectors  Wholesale and retail trade: 37%  Transport, Storage and logistics: 27%  Tourism and wellness: 22%  Informatics technologies: 21%  Business Consulting: 20%  Other Sectors: 17% Wholesale NMS10: 50,25% EU15: 35,20% Transport NMS10: 26% EU15: 28,67% Tourism NMS10: 17,17% EU15: 20,87%

5. Countries & Languages of choice 11 Countries of choice for doing business abroad EU15 Countries:  Germany 38%, France 29%, Italy 27%, Spain & UK 26%. Neighbouring Country (examples):  Belgium with Luxembourg, Netherland, France  Denmark with Germany, Sweden  Czech Republic with Hungary, Slovakia  Latvia with Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania

5. Countries & Languages of choice 12 Languages of choice for doing business abroad  English: 72% are happy to use English (Followed by 37% German)  National Language: Many respondents chose their own language.  Neighbouring Country Language: Hungary chose Romanian, Bulgaria opted for Greek and vice versa, Portugal and Italy chose Spanish etc...

6. Awareness, Relevance and Use of the Portal 13 Relevance of Portal  Important: 64%  Practical: 41%  Not practical: 32%  Don’t know: 27% Awareness & Use of the Portal  Aware: 7% - User: 2% - Non-User: 93% Cross Border info is:  Exists & easy to find: 17%  Exists but hard to find: 62%  Info not available: 21%

7. Information Channels & Modalities 14 Looking for information  Google: 59%  Chamber of Commerce: 38%  Country Embassy Abroad: 27%  European Business Networks: 26%  EU Brochures, Leaflets, publications, Poster: 24%  Go directly to EUROPA: 19%  Go directly to Your Europe – Business: 11%

7. Information Channels & Modalities 15 Receiving Information  73%  Postal Mail: 23%  Seminar, Events: 19%  Website Widgets: 17%  Don’t Know: 10%  Other: 2%

8. Conclusions 16 Profile:  Young male business professionals working in the Services sector, established near a border, with most probably experience in cross border activities. Existing Topics:  Relevant but not always clear  Higher interest in Access to Finance, Starting a Business, Market Information, Taxation.

8. Conclusions 17 New Topics:  High Interest in: Business collaboration and Labour market.  Services Directive: One-stop-shops and public online services and Personal advice/contact information.  Suggestions: Taxation, Comparisons Between Countries, Business Collaboration, Recruitment, Import / Export. Sectors:  High interest in: Wholesale and retail trade, Transport, Storage and logistics, Tourism and wellness (and other...).

8. Conclusions 18 Countries:  EU15 countries (Especially Germany)  Neighbouring country Languages:  National Language  English  Language of a neighbouring country

8. Conclusions 19 Portal Awareness, relevance and Use:  Relevant but low awareness and use  Not always practical  On the whole, information is judged as hard to find Information Channels and Modalities:  Internet (Google, , Widgets etc...)  Chambers of Commerce  EU Publications and brochures.  Frequency for receiving information monthly to weekly.

Thank you. 20