As European Finance Ministers gathered in Brussels to address the Euro crisis, we wanted to share our belief that small businesses and entrepreneurs can be at the heart of Europe’s strategy for economic growth. In our view, the key that will unlock this much needed growth is the Internet.



In order to demonstrate this important opportunity, we organised an event today in Brussels bringing together small businesses, European Commission officials, European parliamentarians, business associations and others to discuss how the Internet can drive growth and jobs. Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani keynoted the event, and picked up on the themes of an important manifesto, published last week by the Commission, that is designed to build trust in the Digital Single Market.

The Commissioner said Europe must put the Internet at the heart of its economic strategy. “I think of the third industrial revolution – information technologies are at its heart,” he said. Instead of “destroying” jobs, he insisted that it powers employment, saying that for each position displaced, the Internet creates another 2.6 new positions. Companies with websites grow twice as fast as companies that stay offline, he added. “Our goal is to double the amount of commerce online by 2015,” Tajani said. “We need exponential growth” to get Europe out of its present economic crisis.

Our own European Vice President Matt Brittin announced a new collaboration between the Lisbon Council and Google. In some countries, Matt noted, the Internet already generates more than 7% of GDP - a figure that is set to grow rapidly - with much of the growth coming from small companies. “SMEs are the unsung heroes of the economy,” he said. “But the internet can give them a voice.” In order to prove the point, we assembled small business owners from 15 countries, including a Polish butcher, a Swedish sweet shop, a Dutch clog seller, a Spanish baby clothes retailer, and a Greek travel agent. All power their businesses by leveraging the Internet.



The focus of the event then turned to the platforms (generally large companies) that support online commerce. Martin Tidell, Telenor’s Head of Business Management for SMEs, joined by Google+ hangout from Stockholm and said that the Internet is not just for high tech businesses. “I cannot think of one business that wouldn’t benefit by going online,” he said.

Back in Brussels, Frank Jahn, the Managing Director of Parcels at Belgium’s post office said his company was bracing for a transformation. “We are now a mail company with a parcels operation,” he said. “We need to become a parcels company with a mail operation.”

Next up were three small businesses who shared their experiences of growing online and selling in both domestic markets and across the Single Market. Their panel session also highlighted the "Getting business online” initiative, which has helped more than 250,000 businesses get a website over the last two years.

The final panel of the day, hosted by European Voice, focused on the policy conclusions that the European Commission, European Parliament and the key stakeholder - Europe’s consumers - draw from the debate. And all agreed that the Internet opportunity for businesses is big - and growing.

Posted by Al Verney, Communications Manager, Brussels