Countries - Target Business Country or Area

The EU and its potential for expansion

The EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. There are five recognised candidates for future membership of the European Union: Turkey (applied on 14 April 1987), Macedonia (applied on 22 March 2004), Montenegro (applied in 2008), Albania (applied in 2009), and Serbia (applied in 2009). All except Albania and Macedonia have started accession negotiations. The EU is making it easier than ever to set up a new company with cheaper costs. All the procedures involved in starting and carrying out a service or selling a product are getting simplified. Environmental licenses, authorizations and notifications are made much simpler. Thus it is clear that this is the right time to explore business opportunities in Europe.

The EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The European Union consists of 28 member states. Each member state is party to the founding treaties of the union and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. Areas: 4,381,376 km2 (1,691,659 sq mi), Number of countries: 28 (as of 2018) of which 21 Republics and 7 Monarchies. The internal market is an area of prosperity and freedom, giving 500 million Europeans access to goods, services, jobs, business opportunities and the cultural richness of 28 Member States. While extra-EU exports were historically higher than those of the USA or of China, extra-EU imports replaced those of the USA as number one in 2008 and could keep their leading position until today. No surprise that the EU became the largest export market for China and the EU is the second largest supplier of the Chinese economy. In turn, China clearly leads the list of extra-EU imports and ranks second in extra-EU exports. EU-China trade volume is only slightly less than that of EU-US trade.