One European market first, or all at once?
The EU is one market with 27 buying cultures. How to pick a lead market, and what changes by country: language, retail concentration, payment terms.
For most manufacturers from outside the EU, the better sequence is one lead market first, then a planned second and third, with the operational base set up for all of Europe from the start. The European Union is one legal market for moving goods. It is not one buying culture. Language, retail structure, price levels and payment habits change at every border, and a commercial effort spread across 27 countries at once tends to end up thin in all of them.
The distinction that makes this work is between the operational layer and the commercial layer. Goods can be imported once and reach every member state. Buyers cannot be won once. They are won country by country, and sometimes chain by chain.
Suppose a maker of household products has interest from a distributor in the Netherlands, an enquiry from a chain in Spain, and a trade fair contact in Poland. Chasing all three at once splits a small team three ways, with three languages, three price structures and three sets of payment terms. Choosing one to lead, and building the other two on what it teaches, is slower on paper and faster in practice.
One legal market, 27 buying cultures
The single market is real. On 1 January 2026 the EU had 452.0 million inhabitants, according to Eurostat. Inside the EU customs union, no customs duties are paid when goods move from one member state to another, so stock cleared once can serve buyers anywhere in the Union. VAT still applies to each sale: a business selling goods to a business customer in another EU country with a valid EU VAT number does not charge VAT, while sales to consumers in other member states generally carry the VAT of the customer’s country, usually reported through the One Stop Shop. Excise goods follow separate rules. Both sides are set out in zero-rated B2B sales from stock in Portugal and OSS, IOSS, and what they do not cover.
The market is also uneven. Germany alone accounts for 18.5 percent of the EU population, with 83.5 million people; France accounts for 15.3 percent and Italy for 13.0 percent. At the other end, Malta has 0.6 million. Three countries hold close to half of the Union’s consumers, and the other 24 share the rest.
That is why “all of Europe” is rarely a sales plan. It is a logistics plan, which is a different thing and should be treated as one.
What changes from one country to the next
Four things change at almost every border, and each one affects how a product is sold.
Language. The EU has 24 official languages. For food, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires mandatory food information in a language easily understood by consumers in each member state where the food is marketed, and allows each member state to require one or more official EU languages. A pack, a website, a price list and a sales conversation all have to work in the buyer’s language.
Retail concentration. A report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre cites a five-firm concentration ratio for retailing in 2016 that ranged from 35 percent in Greece to 90 percent in Finland. In a concentrated market, a handful of buyers decide access to most of the shelf. In a fragmented one, distributors and wholesalers matter more, and there are many more doors to open; how those are found is covered in how a European distributor search runs.
Price levels. Eurostat’s comparison of household consumption price levels for 2024 puts Denmark at 143 percent of the EU average, Ireland at 138 percent and Luxembourg at 133 percent, against Bulgaria at 60 percent, Romania at 64 percent and Poland at 72 percent. A price that works on a Danish shelf may not work on a Bulgarian one, and a single European price list will be wrong somewhere.
Payment terms and the buying calendar. The EU default for business payments under Directive 2011/7/EU is 60 days, unless the parties expressly agree otherwise and the longer term is not grossly unfair to the creditor. In agri-food, Directive (EU) 2019/633 prohibits paying protected suppliers later than 30 days for perishable products and 60 days for others. National practice sits on top of those rules. In France, the annual agreements required by the Code de commerce between suppliers and distributors must be signed by 1 March. Under Loi n° 2026-796 of 18 August 2026, suppliers with a worldwide turnover below 350 million euros excluding VAT sign by 31 January instead, as an experiment for agreements concluded from 2027 to 2029, which moves the negotiation rhythm earlier in the year. How that calendar shapes an approach is in how European retail chains buy.
What a lead market is for
The lead market is the first country in which a manufacturer builds a working commercial presence in Europe, on purpose, to learn what the rest of Europe will ask of it.
It does three jobs. It proves the product sells at a European price to European buyers. It produces the references a buyer in the next country will ask for: who stocks it already, and how it sells. And it forces the operational side to work end to end, from import to delivery to returns, while volumes are still manageable.
A lead market is not the largest market by definition. Germany is the largest by population, and for some products it is the right first market. For others, a smaller market with a clear route in teaches the same lessons at lower cost.
How to choose the first market
The choice is best made on evidence rather than on size. Five questions narrow it.
- Where is there already a pull? An existing enquiry, a distributor who has asked, or sales through marketplaces to a particular country are stronger signals than a population figure.
- Where does the category sell in a way the product fits? A product built for specialist retail struggles in a market where the category is sold mostly through a few discount chains, and the reverse.
- Where does the price work? Price levels vary widely, so the lead market should be one where the shelf price leaves room for every margin in the chain.
- Which language can the team work in? A lead market where the manufacturer can hold a sales conversation without an interpreter moves faster.
- How far is it from the stock? Delivery time to the buyer’s warehouse is one of the first questions any buyer asks.
The answers rarely point to a single obvious winner. They usually narrow the field to two or three, and then the decision is about where the first real buyer conversations are most likely to happen.
When all of Europe at once makes sense
There are cases where selling across Europe from the first day is the right plan.
Online sales to consumers are one. Eurostat reports that 78 percent of EU internet users bought or ordered goods or services online in 2025. A brand selling through its own site or a marketplace can accept orders from every member state from the start, provided the stock, the returns and the VAT reporting are set up for it.
Narrow business-to-business niches are another. A maker of a specialised industrial component may have a few dozen possible buyers across the whole Union, and none of them cares much about national borders. For that maker, the market is the customer list, not the country.
Even then, the commercial effort still has an order. The first buyers approached, the first references won and the first case studies written come from somewhere specific.
Sequencing the second and third markets
Once the lead market works, the next markets are chosen on what it taught. A product that sold well through a specialist distributor in one country looks for the same kind of distributor in the next. A price that held in one market is adjusted for the next market’s price level. References from the first market are used to open doors in the second.
Neighbouring markets can follow through shared languages, or through distributors that already cover more than one country. German links Germany and Austria; French and Dutch link Belgium to its neighbours. The pairing should still follow where the product’s buyers operate, not the map.
How this runs at EFC
EFC helps companies from outside the EU operate and grow in Europe and around the world. The two layers are handled separately. The operational layer is set up once, from EFC’s base in Portugal inside the EU customs union, so a second or third market needs no new import route. The commercial layer is worked market by market through business development, and the client approves the market priority order before any approach is made.
How the work runs for European markets is on business development in Europe. For manufacturers weighing the United States alongside Europe, the same logic of a lead market applies, and it is set out on business development in the United States.
What this article is not
This article sets out a way of thinking about sequencing. It is not a prediction of which market will work for a particular product, and it is not legal, tax or regulatory advice. Labelling, product rules, VAT and payment practice vary by member state and by product, and should be confirmed for each market with qualified advisers.
The figures quoted are official statistics at a point in time. Retail structures and price levels move, and a market decision should be made on current data for the specific category.
How candidate markets and buyers are mapped and rated is described on the market and buyer map.
Sources
| Label | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| EU population, 1 January 2026 | 452.0 million | Eurostat, EU population continued to grow in 2025, 10 July 2026, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Population by country, 1 January 2026 | Germany 83.5 million (18.5 percent), France 15.3 percent, Italy 13.0 percent, Malta 0.6 million | Eurostat, 10 July 2026, opened 2026-08-25 |
| No customs duties between member states | no customs duties are paid when goods are transported from one EU country to another | European Union, EU customs union in action, opened 2026-08-25 |
| VAT on business sales to another EU country | no VAT charged if the business customer has a valid EU VAT number; distance sales to consumers generally taxed in the customer’s country and reported through the One Stop Shop; excise goods covered separately | Your Europe, cross-border VAT, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Official EU languages | 24 | European Union, languages, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Food label language | mandatory food information in a language easily understood by consumers where marketed; member states may require one or more official EU languages | Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 15(1) and (2), text as adopted. legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Retail concentration, 2016 | five-firm concentration ratio from 35 percent in Greece to 90 percent in Finland | European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Retail alliances in the agricultural and food supply chain, 2020, section 2.2, citing McCorriston 2019, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Household consumption price levels, 2024 | Denmark 143, Ireland 138, Luxembourg 133; Bulgaria 60, Romania 64, Poland 72 (percent of EU average) | Eurostat, household consumption price levels in 2024, 19 June 2025, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Late payment default | businesses pay within 60 days unless expressly agreed otherwise, provided the term is not grossly unfair to the creditor | European Commission, late payment, opened 2026-08-25; Directive 2011/7/EU, Article 3(5), text as retained at legislation.gov.uk, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Agri-food payment limits | no later than 30 days for perishables, 60 days for other agri-food products | European Commission, DG Agriculture, unfair trading practices, opened 2026-08-25 |
| French signature deadline, general rule | commercial agreements required by the Code de commerce signed by 1 March at the latest | Bignon Lebray, Hebdo des Négos n°6, 20 February 2026 (law firm publication), opened 2026-08-25 |
| French deadline for smaller suppliers | Loi n° 2026-796 of 18 August 2026: 31 January for suppliers with worldwide annual turnover below 350 million euros excluding VAT; experiment for agreements concluded 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029; 1 March still applies above the threshold | La Cité des Entreprises, négociations commerciales 2027, opened 2026-08-25 |
| Online shopping, 2025 | 78 percent of EU internet users bought or ordered goods or services online | Eurostat, e-commerce statistics for individuals, opened 2026-08-25 |