Flash Eurobarometer 510 (SMEs´ Expectations for an Effective Competition Policy)

SME views on competition policy.<br>Topics: preferred point of contact in case of encountering problems referring to competition: national court, European court, European Commission, other; awareness of issues with regard to competition cases in the media in the last year; sources of the information; awareness of the executing authority; importance for the own company of effective competition among: main suppliers, main customers, direct competitors and own company; attitude towards selected statements regarding competition between companies: encourages innovation, allows for higher quality, allows for more choice for consumers, allows for better consumer prices, helps EU companies to become more competitive in global markets, control by the European Commission over the granting of public money prevents specific companies from receiving undue advantages; assessment of regulations that prevent unfair market behaviour as an effective solution; awareness about the ongoing updates to EU competition rules to facilitate the green and digital transitions and to make markets work better in the last twelve months; sources of the information; experiences regarding a lack of competition in carrying out any of the following activities necessary for the own company: sourcing raw materials inputs, using transport services, using financial services, sourcing energy supply, using retail channels or other distribution channels to reach customers, using digital platforms to reach customers, others, none; main difficulties with regard to the mentioned problem; importance of selected improvements to competition: taking advantages away from competitors who are subsidised by non-EU governments, taking advantages away from competitors who are subsidised by EU governments, preventing players across market sectors from abusing their market power, preventing mergers and acquisitions that reduce competition in a given sector, fighting cartels.

Demography: information about the company: number of employees; years of company activity; development of turnover in the last two years; total turnover in 2021.

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