Flash Eurobarometer 542 (Businesses´ Attitudes Towards the Schengen Area)

Attitudes of companies towards the Schengen Area.<br>Topics: awareness of the Schengen area; company is located in a country that is part of the Schengen area; offices, factories, branches or subsidiaries in other countries; intensity of business activities with stakeholders and business partners located in other countries in the Schengen area; business activities with stakeholders and business partners located outside the Schengen area; sold or bought products or services requiring cross-border movement of goods or people inside the Schengen area in 2023; required frequency of business travel to other countries inside the Schengen area; main purpose of the company’s business travels to other countries inside the Schengen area; attitude towards the following statements about the Schengen area: is good for business in the own country, is one of the EU’s main achievements, has more advantages than disadvantages for the own country, has more advantages than disadvantages for own business; positive influence for the company by being located in the Schengen area: decreases costs due to the absence of internal border controls, is an important element for clients, for other reasons; influence of the location of international stakeholders on decision to do business with them: easier to do business with partners located in the Schengen area, no influence, only do business with stakeholders in own country; impact of the temporarily reintroduced border controls at the internal borders of the Schengen area during the COVID-19 pandemic on business activities in any of the following ways: took longer to receive supplies, affected commuting of employees, took longer to deliver products, increased administrative and operational costs, was difficult to access markets and business partners, decreased oversight of operations abroad, no impact; impact of temporarily reintroduced border controls at the internal borders of the Schengen area due to other reasons on business activities; most important impacts of these reintroductions on own business; estimated economic impact on own business of these temporarily reintroduced internal border controls (in percent); reaction of own business on temporarily reintroduced internal border controls by another EU member state: try to avoid border crossing points where controls are reintroduced, shift focus to partners or clients in areas where there are no border controls, no change in the way of working, business is not affected, other; experiences with visa requirements of business partners or clients based outside the Schengen area: application process is smooth and without difficulties, application process is time consuming, represents a major obstacle for own business, no experience; most useful improvement regarding the application process.

Demography: information about the company (limited to activities in the own country): number of employees, years of company activity; development of turnover in the last two years; total turnover in 2023; direct selling to final consumers.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; NACE-Code; region; nation group; weighting factor.