You might ask what do a German healthcare service and a Spanish honey producer have in common? Both use Amazon's technologies to grow their businesses and reach customers across borders.
In early March I was pleased to meet some of these European producers and innovators who participated in our event -'Amazon Expo: Realising Europe's Ambition Together' to discuss how policies can better reflect their business needs.
Improving SME productivity delivers results
According to Eurostat, smaller firms make up over 99% of EU businesses, accounting for two-thirds of employment and half of economic output. At the same time, Digital Intensity Index shows that 40% of EU Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) currently have a ‘low’ level of digitalisation, with a further 27% ranking as ‘very low’. I’m delighted to say Amazon's digital services help SMEs innovate faster, reach global customers, and scale cost-effectively.
At Amazon, we believe EU laws, policies, and standards on cloud and AI should be consistent and focus on risk management and customer needs
A Flint Global study ‘Digital services and SME productivity in the EU’, examined how three Amazon services, Amazon Marketplace, Fulfilment by Amazon, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), support European SME productivity. The findings are clear: all three deliver tangible gains. Companies saw average productivity increases of up to 18.8%. Altogether, the report estimates an additional €10 to €20 billion in gross value added to the EU economy each year.
Making technology accessible for all
One example of a small business benefiting from AWS digital services is the German start-up Eterno Health. Their service automates everything from booking appointments to billing in outpatient care, freeing clinicians to spend their valuable time on patients rather than paperwork. This demonstrates how start-ups like Eterno Health harnessing cutting-edge cloud technologies drive innovation and deliver tangible results for people.
At Amazon, we believe EU laws, policies, and standards on cloud and AI should be consistent and focus on risk management and customer needs. This helps organisations choose solutions that work for them, supports their growth, while improving security and resilience and making Europe more competitive.
At a time when boosting European competitiveness is a priority, we believe policymakers could help accelerate growth for European producers
Simplifying the Single Market: VAT, product passports and recycling
In Spain, honey producer Tesela makes high-quality honey using sustainable practices. After participating in Amazon's programme for Spanish SMEs to start selling online, the company now exports across Europe and the U.S. In fact, Tesela is just one of 127,000 EU companies selling on Amazon that collectively achieved more than €15 billion in total export sales worldwide in 2024.
At a time when boosting European competitiveness is a priority, we believe policymakers could help accelerate growth for European producers like Tesela. First, create one EU-wide portal for all VAT registrations instead of requiring separate registrations in each country. Second, use standardised digital product passports so SMEs can update their product information in real-time, in any language, and scale their businesses across the EU.
Third, harmonise recycling schemes through a European "one stop shop" for registration and reporting of recycling to reduce compliance costs for SMEs.
From our perspective, the stories of Eterno Health, Tesela, and thousands of other European businesses demonstrate what's possible when digital tools meet policy ambition.
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