TTIP - what’s in it for SMEs

On September 11th, BusinessEurope was invited to a panel discussion at the European Parliament hosted by MEP Andreas Schwab and organised by the Bertelsmann Foundation on TTIP and SMEs. During the discussion Luisa Santos pointed to major gains for SMEs that will come out of TTIP in the regulatory part as well as to other measures leading to a simplification of procedures and reducing the costs of doing business - e.g. customs procedures, rules of origin. Apart from having a specific chapter in TTIP, SMEs can benefit from the agreement in different areas such as increased transparency and improved access to public procurement markets, duty elimination or IPR protection. EU SMEs have an opportunity with TTIP to reap the benefits of an improved access to the US market, potentially leading to fresh business opportunities.