How do Scotland’s businesses benefit from the EU?

The EU is the world’s largest single market and is a vital export route for Scottish firms – it accounted for almost half of Scotland’s international exports in 2014. These exports are worth billions and are estimated to support hundreds of thousands of Scottish jobs. The EU also gives Scotland’s businesses the ability to sell freely to 500 million EU consumers.

Continued access to the Single Market is cited as a key reason behind 72% of foreign investors’ decisions to invest in Scotland – making Scotland second only to London as the most attractive destination for foreign direct investment in the UK.

EU competition rules ensure fairness and equality in business trading conditions in the single market. They prevent dominant companies with market monopolies from abusing their position through anti-competitive practices,  ensuring that smaller competitors are not pushed out of the market.