A    S I T E    S E L E C T I O N    S P E C I A L    F E A T U R E    F R O M    N O V E M B E R    1 9 9 9

---

Europe's Best Business Locations:
A Closer Look

b y     T I M     V E N A B L E

Europe's leading locations for business offer varied
and inviting business climates.

[Editor's note: This feature is a follow-up report on "Europe's 1998 Facilities Race: The United Kingdom, France, Germany Take Top Honors," which appeared in the July Site Selection, and "Europe's Top 10 Investment Destinations: Why They're Hot," which followed in the September issue. With this article, we offer insights into the investment environment in Europe's 10 most preferred business locations.]

Climates vary greatly across Europe. There's the sunny Mediterranean coast of Spain, the snowy Alps in Switzerland, France and Austria, and everything in between.

European business climates, though, are largely a different story -- at least as far as Europe's 10 leading locations for attracting new business are concerned. While the investment atmosphere clearly varies from country to country, each of the top players has crafted a business climate warm enough to lure large numbers of new and expanded facilities.

Which countries are in the top 10? They're the nations identified by Ernst & Young's European Investment Monitor (EIM) database as having attracted the largest numbers of new and expanded corporate facilities in 1998. They are: No. 1, United Kingdom; No. 2, France; No. 3, Germany; No. 4, Belgium; No. 5, Poland; No. 6, Ireland; No. 7, Hungary; No. 8, Spain; No. 9, Netherlands; and No. 10, Austria.

(For more information on the EIM, call Mark Hughes or Andrea Geipel at (44) 171 951 0015, or fax at (44) 171 951 3731. E-mail Mark at mhughes2@cc.ernsty.co.uk or Andrea at ageipel@cc.ernsty.co.uk.)

Here's a country-by-country review of the business climate and status of foreign direct investment in Europe's leading locations for business.