How to do business in the EU

Exporting to the European Union (EU) or thinking about it? Learn how to make the most of opportunities available through the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and get access to resources that will smooth your path to this lucrative market.

• Business opportunities in the EU
• How to use CETA to your advantage
• Prepare for the EU market
• Get EU market support

Business opportunities in the EU

The EU is a large, dynamic market of 450 million consumers, that offers tremendous opportunities for Canadian businesses in a wide range of sectors.

Useful EU facts:

• world’s second-largest economy;
• Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the United States;
• largest importer of services and second-largest importer of goods;
• annual imports alone worth more than Canada’s GDP;
• more Fortune 500 companies than anywhere else in the world;
• top services imports, include management, financial, ICT, architectural, engineering and other technical services.

How to use CETA to your advantage

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is one of Canada’s most ambitious trade initiatives. The agreement has reduced and eliminated tariffs and set new standards in investment, government procurement, labour, and the environment.

Here are the top ways you can use CETA to your advantage:

• Price your products more competitively: With CETA, 98% of EU tariff lines are now duty-free for Canadian goods, and that number will increase to 99% once CETA is fully implemented. This gives you room to price your products competitively in the market.
• Ship your goods with confidence: CETA aims to reduce processing times at the border and to make moving goods cheaper, faster and more efficient. If you have a complaint, there’s an impartial system under CETA that will help you address it.
• Deal with barriers to trade: CETA promotes openness, transparency and cooperation to help prevent technical regulations from creating barriers to trade. CETA also creates a regulatory cooperation forum to reduce unnecessary regulatory differences before new regulations are drafted.
• Sell your services more easily: CETA gives Canadian services exporters the best market access the EU has ever granted to any of its free trade agreement partners. With a few exceptions, this puts you on equal footing with EU companies.
• Increase your market presence: Labour mobility provisions can make it easier for Canadian business people to travel to the EU to make contacts, connect with investors, bid on government contracts or work in the EU temporarily. This offers greater certainty when establishing branches in the EU, bidding on EU service contracts, or providing installation and maintenance services for goods sold in the EU market.
• Bid on contracts with EU governments: Under CETA, you can access procurement opportunities with local contracting authorities, bodies governed by public law, public utilities (gas, electricity, heat and water), and urban transit and railway authorities.

Learn about the benefits for businesses under CETA.

Prepare for the EU market

Get EU market support

Related links

• CETA articles and tools - EDC
• CETA in focus – EU Commission
• Doing business in the European Union - EDC
• Information on accessing the EU market – EU Commission