Targeted consultation on CETA and SMEs

Small and medium-sized companies involved in trade with Canada.

The CETA Joint Committee adopted a Recommendation in 2018 on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It sets concrete steps to enhance the ability of EU and Canadian SMEs to benefit from CETA. A specific Action Plan complemented this Recommendation. The Joint Activity Report and Work Plan 2020-2021, published on 27 July 2020, takes stock of progress made, and plans further work until mid-2021.

During its second meeting on 25 March 2021, the CETA Joint Committee co-chairs announced that a dedicated event aimed at exploring how SMEs can take full advantage of CETA would be organised around CETA’s fourth anniversary in September 2021.

SMEs are the backbone of the European and Canadian economies, representing respectively 99% and 98% of all businesses. It is therefore in the EU’s interest to hear from the business community about their experience with CETA. While the combined efforts at SME internationalisation are rewarded by some first encouraging trends (see the 4th EU FTA implementation Report), existing data show that EU companies, including SMEs, do not take full advantage of the opportunities offered by comprehensive trade agreements like CETA.

The objective of the questionnaire is to gather input from SMEs involved in trade with Canada about their knowledge of the preferential market access provided by CETA, their use of the Agreement’s provisions, their awareness about existing information sources and their suggestions for further improving the uptake of CETA’s advantages. The information collected will be used to inform the organisation of the CETA SME event in September 2021.