Flash Eurobarometer 180 (The Internal Market)

Attitudes of companies towards the European Internal Market.<br>Topics: impact of each of the following EU Single Market measures on the company’s activities: product standards, labelling and packaging rules, public procurement rules, elimination of customs documentation, abolition of border controls, VAT procedures for sales within the EU, liberalisation of capital movements, rules for establishing businesses in other EU countries; influence of the EU Single Market on each of the following strategic fields of the company: pricing of products or services, purchasing from other EU countries, selling directly to other EU countries, distribution in other EU countries, offering services in other EU countries, setting up businesses in other EU countries, investing in companies in other EU countries, investment of companies from other EU countries in own business, cooperation agreements with companies from other EU countries, marketing strategy; development in the level of competition in the own country as a result of the EU Single Market with regard to: domestic firms, other EU firms, non-EU firms; recruitment of staff coming from other member states; reasons for not recruiting staff coming from other member states; impact of the enlargement of the EU Single Market on each of the following issues: cost of raw materials, cost of wages, access to new markets, selling prices, productivity, profitability, growth in employment; engagement in trade of products or services with one or more of the new member states; importance of selected future EU Single Market policy measures for the own company: remove remaining technical barriers to trade in goods, remove remaining technical barriers to trade in services, create a patent valid in all EU countries, strengthen intellectual property rights protection, further opening up of public procurement markets, achieve an integrated European financial market, ensure fair competition, further opening up to competition of public utility services, create common set of rules for doing business within the EU, facilitate labour mobility; main reasons for not exporting to other countries within the Single Market.

Demography: information about the company: number of employees in total, number of employees in the own country; position of respondent at the company; number of EU countries cross-border sales are made to; percentage of the company’s turnover coming from sales to other EU countries.

Additionally coded was: country; respondent ID; language of the interview; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; interviewer ID; type of phone line; NACE-Code.