The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalisation portal is a central online information portal that provides reliable, consistent and regularly updated information about support services available for SMEs wishing to expand their business outside the EU. Examples of these support services include information on rules and regulations, sectoral programs, credit guarantee schemes, staff training, trade missions, trade fairs and matchmaking events, business cooperation and networking events, seminars, workshops, advice and consultancy, etc.
This quick guide explains how to find your way around the portal.
I. Accessing the Portal
The SME Internationalisation Portal is publicly accessible from the European Commission's GROWTH website. All you need are:
• an internet connection
• Internet Explorer (v.9 or later), Mozilla Firefox (v.16 or later) or another up-to-date web browser.
To access the portal:
1. Type the following address in your browser's address bar: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/smeip/
2. Press Enter.
Result: The portal― homepage appears: Contents:
I. Accessing the Portal II. Looking for Support Services III. Looking for Service Providers
IV. Finding Additional Support for Internationalisation V. Technical Support
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II. Looking for Support Services
Multiple criteria can be combined to find the support services which are best suited to your business needs. After selecting the country in which you are based (the origin country) and the country into which you would like to expand or about which you would like more information (the target country), you can further narrow your search to only include support services of a particular type, or services aimed at a specific business sector.
To look for support services:
1. On the portal homepage, click on your country on the map to select it as the origin country, or click on the Select your country dropdown menu in the blue box to choose the relevant country.
2. Select the desired green target country on the world map, or click on the Select your target country dropdown menu in the green box to choose the relevant country:
3. Either click the Search button in the upper bar, or select Service Providers in the ‘target country’ box on the map:
Note:
Clicking Service Providers in the ‘Origin country’ box will show all providers in that country, regardless of
Result: The list of support services available in the target country for SMEs from your country is displayed.
The information is organised in 4 tabs:
• Support in your country
SME support services offered in your country (or in all EU countries if you did not select your own country in the 'Select your country' box on the homepage and left it to 'EU by default') • Support in other Member States
SME support services offered inEU countriesother than the country where your firm is based • EU Support
SME support services provided by European institutions (in any country) • Support in target country
SME support services offered in thetarget country selected in the 'Select your country' box on the homepage (but not provided by EU institutions)
4. If you need to, you can further refine your search results to only include e.g. support services of a particular type, or services aimed at a specific business sector, a specific type of internationalisation, etc. To do so, set the appropriate filter(s) using the box(es) just under the active tab, and then click
.
5. To view the list of services offered by one of the displayed service providers, click in front of the desired service prodiver's name:
6. To view more details about one of the services in the list, just click on the service name.
Result: Details of the selected support service are displayed:
7. Should you wish to contact a provider of a specific service, click on its name.
III. Looking for Service Providers
Searching as described in the previous pages will only bring up those service providers that have chosen to include their services on the portal. However, the database of service providers available is much wider. If you do not find the service that you need, you may wish to look at service providers that have not yet published their services to the portal.
To look for a service provider:
1. From the portal's left-hand side menu bar, click on Service providers.
Result: This will show the full list of service providers found in the system, with options to filter the list:
2. Use the upper filter options to search for (one or more) service provider(s) located in a specific country (i.e. 'Provided by' box) and/or providing services in a specific country (i.e. 'Provided in' box), and then click :
Result: All service providers matching your filter criteria will be displayed below. You can click on any of the found service providers to view its contact details, or click in front of a service prodiver to view all its offered services.
IV. Finding Additional Support for Internationalisation
Market Access Database
If you are considering exporting to a non-EU country and need information on the tariffs, procedures and formalities, trade barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary issues or rules of origin which apply in that country, please visit the Market Access Database by clicking on its logo on the portal homepage:
Enterprise Europe Network
On the Enterprise Europe Network website, you can find hundreds of organisations providing support services for SMEs, many of whom specialise in providing advice on SME internationalisation.
You can easily find the Network partner closest to you via the Network’s homepage. The Network can help you find international business partners, source new technologies and access EU funding. It can also advise you on a wide range of issues including intellectual property rights and EU laws and standards. To access the Enterprise Europe Network, click on its logo on the portal homepage:
European Small Business Portal
If you want to learn more about the EU policies affecting your business and how to take advantage of the EU single market, the European Small Business portal can help. To access this, click on its logo on the portal homepage:
Your Europe − Business Portal
The Your Europe Business Portal is for companies doing business or wishing to expand within the EU, or
in Iceland, Lichtenstein, and Norway. It provides companies with information on rights, obligations, and opportunities in the EU single market, signposts to relevant national information and authorities, and dedicated support services. Most of this information is available in 24 languages. To access this, click on its logo on the portal homepage:
V. Technical Support
If you have any problems using the SME internationalisation portal, or if you have any issues with or questions about its content, please send us a message by clicking on the Contact link in the menu at the top and bottom of each portal page and completing the contact form. The direct link to the contact page is:
