In contrast to most common expectations, Europe’s Great Recession was not that long and in much less painful than in the rest of the world, including the US. It should be emphasized that the most competitive European economies were least buffeted by the recession, showing resilience and stability.
It clearly emerges from that picture that there is a visible increase of competitiveness and ease of doing business. This remains is line with the perception that Europe effectively managed to overcome lingering risks, including the banking tribulations and political opposition toward tighter integration.
The example of Denmark illustrates how regulatory quality and efficiency go together and in fact strengthen each other. The same stays true for the employment flexibility and job quality. The system introduced in Denmark offers flexibility in employing and dismissal rules and provides a strong safety net for workers in the form of social benefits and unemployment protection.
An important emphasis in the analysis of the potential of the market plays also internet. This instrument significantly influences both the creation of demand and supply as well as affects the development of the brand and the current/future needs of the customers. The internet offers not only the opportunity to set up the business in a time – and money saving manner but it also to gain higher efficiency in other areas of business regulation.
With reference to that, more than 80% of the surveyed economies use web-based applications to process export and import documents. The same stays true for banks gathering credit information via online platforms. Furthermore, in more than 40% of surveyed economies the tax authorities make it possible for businesses to file taxes online, which is pertinent in particular for foreign investors.
The aforementioned makes a real difference for businesses. Where online platforms are widely used in regulatory processes, entrepreneurs simply save their precious time on compliance.
It is, however, clear that the use of the internet to streamline business remains confined to more developed economies. As a consequence, the greatest use of online systems in regulatory processes belongs to the OECD high-income economies as well as Europe and Central Asia. For instance, as it follows from the report, Australia, Denmark and Estonia enable entrepreneurs to complete online eight or more out of the nine possible regulatory transactions.
Source: Eurostat : Individuals who used software run over the internet for editing text documents, spreadsheets or presentations, by age group, EU-28, 2014 (% of individuals).
It is visible to the naked eye that the impact of the internet on the life and development of the business permanently continues to grow. Therefore it should not come as a surprise that given the economic opportunities from the use of electronic services, many of the most reforms in the surveyed economies focused on introducing or enhancing electronic platforms and services. The enhancements encompass establishing or improving online tax payment systems, introduced or enhanced web-based systems to streamline cross-border trade as well as electronic business or property registration and enforcing contracts.