Accession seen as positive for investment - Deloitte

A Deloitte survey released at the European Economic Summit 2004 in Warsaw shows that 81% of western European companies believe that accession to the European Union will make the new member states more attractive for foreign investment.

Addressing the WEF European Economic Summit, Otto Jelinek, chairman of Deloitte & Touche Central Europe, pointed out the positive spirit that prevailed in the survey, commissioned by Deloitte among the Top 200 Western European companies and the Top 1000 in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

81% of western European companies - when asked if EU membership will make the central European states more attractive for investors from their own countries - felt positively, while only 17% believed EU accession would have no impact on the FDI flow.

In acceding countries, 77% of companies believe that EU accession makes their country more attractive to foreign investors - with Polish companies particularly optimistic - 89% of them think Poland will now be more attractive for FDI.

On the other hand, nearly one third of the Western European companies surveyed believe that companies in their country have not, as yet, realised the potential markets and opportunities of the enlarged EU.

And alarmingly only 62% of the western European companies believe that EU enlargement is beneficial to their country as a whole.

Mr Jelinek said that Deloitte plans to undertake a comparable survey in April 2005 to assess any changes in companies' attitudes after they have been confronted with the reality of an enlarged EU for 12 months.