Electronic business (e-business) are essential in helping European companies, especially SMEs, to take advantage of the single market, lower prices and disseminate "best in Europe" in the world, in the because they allow companies to sell to consumers and work with partners outside any premises.
E-business are more than just e-commerce, which involves buying and selling online. Companies are increasingly using more information technology and communication (ICT) to connect their processes and systems:
internally: linking departments to provide better products and more flexible services more efficiently;
with those of their suppliers, distributors and other partners, to even more effectively;
with government, to reduce administrative burdens in the public and private sectors: see the theme of e-government.
with their customers, to respond more directly to market trends and sell worldwide.
That's why e-business enabling new forms of partnership and improve both the way companies work as the products and services they offer.
i innovation resulting promotes job creation and economic growth worldwide, the outlook is particularly interesting in Europe, since, thanks to e-business, many companies, especially SMEs, may for the first time exploit the advantages of the single market.
That is why national legal systems across Europe should consider these possibilities, and that a European approach is necessary on issues as diverse as taxation, copyright, consumer protection and protection privacy - see section below Policy.
Similarly, it is through European cooperation that many technological and organizational challenges inherent in e-business can be met at best - see section below activities.
