There has been much debate surrounding the subject of Enlargement with regards to the European Union (EU) due to the political, institutional, cultural and economic factors that are involved. This essay looks at the way in which businesses from EU-15 countries have been able to exploit the increased number of consumers, the possibility of relocation for lower production and labour costs and the cross-border supply chains. There will also be focus on how the liberalisation, migration of labour and integration of markets for goods, services and capital has affected business.
In recent years the enlargement of the European Union has become a highly discussed subject. Much of the discussion was centred around the possible new business opportunities that would arise in the new EU Member States for businesses in the ‘old’ EU Member States. It was believed that a consequence of the enlargement would be that the economic environment for Businesses would improve. This is due to the fact that by removing the barriers to the flow of goods, capital, services and labour, new market opportunities for business could arise.
In 1999, mergers and acquisitions involving international groups totalled $16.86bn, almost twice the figure of 1998 (Wagstyl 2000). It is no wonder that it is now much more difficult to distinguish CEE and EU countries by their regional trade structure. The change in the geographic composition of trade toward the EU was fast and sizable (EBRD 1999). Estonia’s share of exports to the EU is not as high as that of Hungary and Greece and the Czech Republic source a share equivalent to France’s of their imports from the EU (Fidrmuc, Wörgötter, and Wörz 1999). In terms of the depth of economic integration, throug...
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...irect control of foreign interests, absolute and comparative advantages and sometimes the strength of ties with major foreign markets. The problem of geographic and economic distance is one that is not solved easily. There must be a cross-border trade in goods and services and this could be done with little direct involvement abroad. Businesses may also be able to systematically work local markets abroad by establishing branch offices in the given country. There is also the option of investing in an existing firm abroad, which minimises the risk involved. Ideally, investor motives will broadly match the requirements of target countries or firms, with the interests of the latter focusing on expanding production capacities, enhancing productivity growth, benefiting from employment opportunities and getting access to technological know-how (A. Breitenfellner, 2008).
To start with, what is the meaning of the Single Market? According to European Commission website, Single Market indicates the EU as one territory that has no internal borders or any other controlling complications that lead to the free movement of booth services and goods (The European Single Market - European Commission, 2017). According to the same source, single market has great benefits. It encourages competition and trade, increases efficiency, promotes quality, as well as helps in cutting the prices. In addition, the same source considers the European Single Market as one of the EU’s ultimate accomplishments that powered the economic growth and made the everyday life of European businesses and consumers easier (The European Single Market - European Commission, 2017).
In recent years, the efforts of clusters are subject to a strong academic and political enthusiasm. The term "cluster" is fashionable and attractive concept. Indeed, in a context of intense competition between countries and regions, there is a questioning of the competitive positioning of territories that have to adapt to a carrier opportunities and uncertainties of globalization. For keen to strengthen the potential of their regions governments, clusters bring solutions sought: company mergers and resulting benefits appear as drivers of innovation and competitiveness of regional economies.
Uvalic, M. (2002, July). Regional Cooperation and the Enlargement of the European Union: Lessons Learned? International Political Science Review, 23(3), 319-333.
Globalization can not only affect a company opening an office in another country but it can affect a small local business as well. As the internet brings the world closer together it becomes far more likely that a business that opened with no intention of selling internationally will have customers form different parts of the world asking for their product. For instance a steel company located in Pennsylvania may suddenly find orders coming in from South American factories. How the steel plant chooses to handle this new international customer could mean ...
The European Union economic and political union is divided between twenty-eight European countries that united to preserve the economy, of the union. This form of economic preservation allowed “an organization spanning policy areas, from climate, environment, and health to external relations and security, justice and migration” (EU 2018). First, to build the European Union every country within the union avoided conflict by trading goods with one another. The act of courtesy in trade amongst the countries promoted peace and economic growth between the European countries (EU 2018).
Recent changes to the way countries handle business open way to more efficient global strategies, and it is expected that more of these changes take place in future years. For example, a growing change has been the way consumers shop—more and more customers among countries demand similar products. Another important change is the country’s willingness to be more open to business—many trade barriers are coming down or being reduces, and many agreements between countries for free trade are being established (Yip, 1995). Thus, a nation must provide favorable conditions for companies to compete internationally (Porter,
Right after WWII, this world has seen two world wars in the last 50 years, with millions of people dying and, but It seemed that this world needed something to help prevent something from happening again without it being the last option. The European Union not only made war the last option for Europe it connected most of the countries to what is called a supranational. This is a kind of organization that allows countries to interconnected with one another, by connecting with one another this allows theses countries not only run as a single unit, but they provide for a better economy. The European Union has help avoid war within Europe over last few decades. With the interconnection of the European Union, It has not brought more cooperation among the members on the EU, also it has brought more economic dependency with different countries from within the EU, and outside the EU. The European Union is a model example on how different should be run. The EU improves EU, by interconnecting countries, which not only improves the economy, but brings more cooperation and peace among countries.
Well known companies like Nike, Microsoft, Sony, Shell Group are just some of the big companies that went global and expanded their trading around the world, they are large businesses that operate internationally in many countries. Development of worldwide integration urges companies to reach out international markets and interact with foreign customers. Businesses focus on fulfilling the demand of the market by its products or services, besides their target is increasing profit, in order achieve these goals they favor to expand their work in a foreign market. Other reasons to internationalize their business may be to become stronger than the other competitors and in addition, to lower their expenses by getting resources they need at lower cost. Recently most of business’s activities are affected by changes that occur globally; this is a result of their operating activities with foreign markets, most of companies’ export goods, move resources with other country and also many companies get suppliers from foreign countries. Likewise these trading activities of businesses outside the country contribute to the growth of the economy.
From all the opportunities brought by the European Integration, the company didn’t fully use the advantages of the markets and business environments with the lower production costs. What could be the threat for the Finnish managers is the topic of the return of the crisis and possible fall of the euro-project.
When it comes to doing business internationally the decision making is more complex. There are many interactions between each country that need to be addressed. In order for a business to be successful in the international market they need to examine and analyze all the facets of their company. They need
These are very exciting times for our country, we are now part of the largest economic community the world has ever seen, opening the doors of opportunity for us, the Irish citizens, everywhere we look. Ireland's membership of the EU is seen by most to be of great benefit to the country as it will solidify the foundations of our economy as well as increase the awareness of Ireland as an investment opportunity for multi national companies; however, some will argue that the change would be detrimental to our nation in the long run.
First, the structure of the framework strongly supports an extensive analysis of the directive and of the context in which it was formulated and implemented. Second, each element is important when trying to clarify how a policy is created in the European Union and the impact of the policy on businesses. The 'issue' element provides an opportunity to explain the content of the directive. The 'actors', 'interests','arenas' and 'assets' elements describe and illustrate the power play involved in European Union policy formulation and implementation and the place occupied by businesses. The 'information' element demonstrates the ever increasing importance that knowledge has within the European Union and how it can be used by businesses. Finally, the design of a non-market strategy supported by the (IA)3 framework enables a firm to become active and not only adapt to a certain policy but also gain an opportunity to influence the environment within which it is
Mulle, E.D., Wedekind, G., Depoorter, I., Sattich, T., & Maltby, T. 2013. ‘EU Enlargement: Lessons from, and prospects for’. IES Working Paper 3. Pp 8-39.
The process of EU enlargement has developed through the different rounds of enlargement. Applicant member states are required to adopt a total version of the acquis communautaire, as opposed to older member states who had more time to adapt and could opt-out in some cases. Political steadiness has become an increasingly important factor to consider in recent enlargement rounds. Starting in 1994, after the demise of communism, former soviet nations sought to link their economic futures with the EU. Communism had isolated them from the world and they decided to jump into the EU bandwagon, especially for its presence in the international market in today’s globalized economy. Inside Europe, the wealth d...
Stonehouse, G., Campbell, D., Hamill, J. & Purdie, T. (2004). Global and Transnational Business (2nd ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.