Topic: Business in Europe

Description: [?]
Preferred language style: English (U.K.)

you need to choose 2 question.
250 word per question will be enough.

MN2005 Business in Europe
TIME CONSTRAINED ASSIGNMENT (TCA)
Week 8 – Spring 2010

Two from the following three questions will be chosen at random on the
day of the test. You must therefore prepare ALL three questions to
ensure you can achieve a passing grade. You will be allowed access to
your own notes and dictionaries to answer the questions. Writing paper
will be provided.

With my very best wishes
Etienne Bresch, module leader
Since the roaming regulation entered into force in June 2007, European
consumers are paying 60% less to make and receive voice calls while
travelling in the EU. However, the prices for sending an SMS abroad or
using data roaming services have remained ridiculously high. On 23
September 2008, the Commission proposed to introduce price caps for
SMS (11 cents vs. previous average 29 cents per message while
travelling abroad) and measures to tackle ‘bill shocks’ for consumers
who can receive bills of thousands of Euros for surfing the internet
through a mobile connection.
Question 1: Outline the objectives and logic for creating a single
market in telecommunications across Europe’s mobile telephone
networks. How is it expected to benefit both the service providers and
the consumers?

Greece faces a severe crisis but there are fears that other weak
euro-zone countries (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain) might follow as
they face large budget deficits and high national debt levels.

Question 2: Briefly review the various obligations that EMU Members
and EMU candidate countries have to meet and maintain to ensure
economic stability of the EU bloc. Assess the prospects for business
managers in one of the countries whose debt level and budget deficit
appear ‘out of control’.

The EU’s nearly 26 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
are the backbone of EU industry, but there is unrealised potential,
which would help close Europe’s productivity gap with the US, amongst
others. A major area of economic activity where the single market
promises to have a significant impact is the services sector, which
accounts for more than 70 per cent of economic activity and output
(GDP) in Europe and the source of 95 per cent of new jobs created, 80
per cent of which generated by SMEs.
SMEs are, therefore, the main focus of pro-active enterprise policies
based on applying the principle “think small first”. SMEs, however,
may take more risks (or be more at risk) than larger companies, so
accountants who often act as SMEs’ main advisors need to be aware of
the potential impacts on the business.

QUESTION 3: Identify the main characteristics of SMEs (small and
medium-sized enterprises). Compared with large firms, such as large
international retailers Wal-Mart or Carrefour, what do you consider
the main challenges (positive and negative) European SMEs face in the
single European market?