Recently, a group of 12 eBay European small business sellers joined eBay CEO Jamie Iannone, the eBay Government Relations team, and other senior eBay executives for a week of advocacy in Brussels, Belgium. Sellers from Germany, France, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Cyprus, and Spain met with EU policymakers to share how eBay enables them to grow and reach new markets. The group of sellers represented a variety of new and second-hand categories like car parts, collectibles, industrial solutions, food, and luxury goods.

European Union policies have contributed to meaningful progress in reducing economic and social balances between major regions across the continent. However, within many countries, regional disparities continue to present a significant challenge. National capital regions are accelerating as technology and growth hubs, and their “magnetic” tendency to concentrate entrepreneurs, workers, and wealth threatens opportunities in other areas, which can depress overall economic potential.

We have witnessed AI’s positive impact on our customers' and employees' experiences. It touches every corner of @ebay, and no other technology holds as much potential to influence every aspect of how we live, work and play.

At the same time, rapidly evolving technology like this can yield new regulations and oversight – and for good reason. We must collectively understand potential security and privacy risks for technology that can autonomously solve complex problems and guide our decision-making.

Digital technology combined with ecommerce marketplace models are expanding economic opportunities available to independent small businesses and entrepreneurs in markets globally. This is especially true in Spain, which has Europe’s fifth largest and increasingly digitally connected population, a growing tech base of skilled firms and workers, vibrant small and medium-sized enterprises that are proving increasingly receptive to online opportunities, and products that are valuable to consumers the world over.

The eBay Government Relations Team recently hosted a delegation of four Italian entrepreneurs in Rome to meet with policymakers at the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, as well as at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as part of eBay’s 2024 Italy Advocacy Day.

Poland, which has Europe’s sixth largest and increasingly digitally-connected population, is a growing tech base of skilled firms and workers, vibrant small and medium-sized businesses that are proving receptive to online opportunities, and products that are proving valuable to consumers the world over. As digitization in Poland has grown, so has ecommerce, with cross-border sales expanding and small businesses serving as an important contributor.

Fostering Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) digitalisation and bolstering international trade activity are cornerstones of a more cohesive Europe for SMEs. In this context, we recently published a report confirming that the eBay global marketplace is helping achieve these important goals across the EU.