The Passport to Trade website provides practical details on market entry in each of the European Union’s 25 Member States, for the benefit of managing directors, export and marketing managers, particularly within smaller-sized companies. SMEs are pivotal in the EU’s drive to become the most competitive economy in the world by 2010.

The underlying aim of Passport to Trade is to ensure that would-be exporters start off on the right footing with potential business partners and clients, and that they avoid major mistakes arising from a lack of knowledge about business practices in other countries.

Over 90 % of businesses in the EU fall into the category of small and medium-sized enterprises (source; EuroStat), yet the number of SMEs in the EU actively involved in exporting dropped by eight per cent in 2002, down to only 46 per cent, the lowest figure in six years.

The Passport to Trade website, http://www.businessculture.org/, delivers an on-line solution and is accessible free of charge. When completed, it will provide the basic ground rules for doing business in any of the EU’s 25 Member States. The partnership is led by the University of Salford (Great Britain) and co-financed by the European Commission’s DG Education and Culture through its Leonardo da Vinci vocational training programme.