EU membership has had a positive impact on local businesses although they feel that more benefits could be reaped from the European market, a survey has found.

A high percentage of small businesses, 88 per cent, believe they could be getting more out of EU membership, according to a survey carried out by the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU.

The survey, released to coincide with SME Week, involved 100 SMEs, mostly selling household goods, services and IT, to establish the impact EU membership has had five years on. The majority, 56.5 per cent, said EU membership had a positive effect on their businesses. Over a quarter, 28.3 per cent, said they did not witness any change while 15 per cent said EU membership had a negative impact.

When asked if EU membership affected their costs, 45 per cent said costs had increased while 27 per cent said their business activities increased and another 27 per cent noted no change.

Over half the businesses, 56 per cent, said they reaped benefits from the introduction of the euro.

Nearly 18 per cent said the euro translated into more costs, while 14 per cent said it did not affect their business in any way. Almost 33 per cent said their business improved by 10 per cent while 38 per cent said it was business as usual.

Only 6.5 per cent of companies said business increased by 30 per cent while three per cent said that it decreased by more than 40 per cent.