Stakeholders and government representatives from the EU and USA agreed to foster transatlantic SME cooperation. In the framework of the Transatlantic Economic Council, they agreed in particular in fostering efforts to facilitate SMEs presence in both continent by developing a framework for cooperation.

In the framework of the Transatlantic Economic Council celebrated in Rome on 12 of July, stakeholders and government representatives from the European Union and the United States have agreed to facilitate SME business support and market access in both continents, in particular by developing a framework for cooperation between the US International Trade Administration and the Enterprise Europe Network, key business support organisations on both sides of the Atlantic. In May 2012, the EU and USA agreed to recognise each other's safe traders.

A key policy challenge for the EU and the US is to create adequate framework conditions so that the decision to exploring international markets is more easily undertaken by SMEs, according to the European Commission. It is therefore planned to further collaborate on initiatives and support for SMEs in exploring mutual ability to enter third country markets, reviewing specific cooperative measures for SMEs, such as joint promotion activities and support for innovation, and mentoring and support measures for boosting entrepreneurship.

One of highlights for transatlantic cooperation is the internationalisation of European and American SMEs by exploring mutual ability to enter third country markets. Only 13% of EU SMEs export outside the EU single market. SMEs often lack the economic resources and adequate know-how and information about potential partners and foreign markets. EU and US SMEs are major job creators but fail to benefit from the opportunities the transatlantic market offers.