The Alliance
Promoting trade and investment for European business.
The European Business Alliance is a business association. It exists to facilitate the international development of European companies and to represent their interests before institutions.
Why we exist
The single market removed the tariffs. It did not remove the friction.
A company selling in three European countries deals with three sets of technical standards, three VAT regimes, three labelling regimes and three ways of posting a worker. None of these costs appears in a tariff schedule. All of them appear in the margin.
The cost is asymmetric
A large exporter has a compliance function and spreads that cost across a large volume. A company of forty people has a commercial director doing compliance at night, on a government website written in a language they read slowly. The cost is spread across nothing — it hits the margin directly.
And it arrives late
A tariff was visible: it went into the quote. An administrative cost is invisible until you are already committed. It arrives after the price has been given, not before.
Information does not fix it
There is plenty of information, and most of it is accurate and free. The problem is that a company does not know what it does not know — nobody searches for a rule they have never heard of. What fixes it is somebody who has done this in that market, warning you before the invoice lands.
What sets us apart
Two things last longer than a project: ownership, and scale.
Members own the Alliance. That is what makes it stay.
Anyone can be paid to deliver a piece of work and then leave. What is harder to walk away from is something you own. The Alliance belongs to its members, and its usefulness is measured in years, not projects — which changes the incentive: there is no reason to sell you a service you do not need.
One membership. Every chapter.
A European SME's problem is rarely about a single country. It is entering Spain, then France, then the Netherlands — each entry repeating the same learning cost. One membership gives access to every chapter, so that cost is paid once.
How we work
Four principles, and what they cost us.
-
01
Obligation of means, never of outcome
We commit to the scope, the deliverables and the timeframe. We do not commit to the market saying yes — because we do not control the market. Anyone who guarantees you business is either lying to you or has not understood the question.
-
02
Nothing that requires a licence we do not hold
It is easier to say yes to everything. Saying no costs us business. But an association providing regulated services without a licence is a problem waiting to happen — and the problem would be yours, not ours.
-
03
The data belongs to the Alliance, not to individuals
If a national representative leaves, your contacts do not go with them. The domain, the brand, the platform and the data belong to the Alliance. This protects you: the relationship you have built does not depend on one person staying.
-
04
Nothing a phone call could disprove
We do not announce partners we do not have, events we will not hold, or figures we cannot justify. A new organisation has one thing to lose and it is credibility. We would rather look small than look false.
To promote trade and investment between Europe and international markets, supporting companies at every stage of their development.
Model
How we are organised.
Members
Companies and professionals who join through dues, with access to the network, events and services.
Partners
Organisations that engage strategically — institutional bodies, sponsors and accredited partners.
Chapters and market desks
European chapters with their own members, and international market desks supporting European companies beyond Europe.
Path
From association to Chamber of Commerce.
-
Phase 1
Foundation
Incorporation of the association, first members and the first European chapter.
-
Phase 2
Network
Activation of national chapters and the first Business Forum.
-
Phase 3
Chamber
Institutional consolidation and evolution into a Chamber of Commerce structure.
How can we help your company?
Tell us what you need. The team at your country's chapter will get in touch.
Talk to us