From Questions to Decisions
EU Market Readiness is AFT Global's decision-grade assessment for non-EU SMEs preparing to enter the European Union market. It helps companies identify readiness gaps, evidence weaknesses, and sequencing priorities before committing resources to market entry. The Decision Hub is the starting point for most engagements.
AFT Global's structured readiness diagnostic for the EU Single Market: evidence-weighted, sector-calibrated.
Answer Questions
A short, structured questionnaire tailored to the organisation's context. Questions adapt to your sector and profile.
Capability Evaluation
Evaluation across 7 areas. No overall grade, just clarity.
Decision Pack
Go/Conditional Go/Hold outcome, readiness blockers, evidence grading, 30/60/90 sequencing logic.
Every technical and regulatory term is defined in our glossary, accessible throughout the assessment.
Decision Outputs by Tier
A clear snapshot, a prioritised roadmap, and actionable checklists, so you know what to resolve first.
Capability Grades
Where you stand across the seven capabilities buyers and regulators actually check.
Independent grades across 7 EU market-entry capabilities. No single overall score, each dimension assessed on its own terms.
Readiness Verdict
Go, Conditional Go, or Hold, with the key factors behind the determination and your most pressing next steps.
Priority Gap Analysis
Your biggest gaps, ranked in the order to fix them.
Your three highest-priority gaps, ranked by severity against your sector's expected baseline. Each includes sector context and a concrete step to verify or close it.
Sector Regulatory Signals
The specific rules for your sector, not generic warnings.
The three regulatory triggers most likely to affect your sector and profile. Severity-rated, filtered by your assessment responses.
Requirements, Playbook & Pitfalls
What applies to you, how to execute, where others slip.
Complete sector requirements matched to your profile, structured market playbook, and the common pitfalls that derail entry in your industry.
Evidence Plan & Sequencing
What to prove, and in what order to prove it.
Prioritised evidence checklist with 30/60/90 day sequencing, division-level analysis, and completion tracking to measure your progress.
All outputs are designed to support decision-making and execution sequencing, not generic benchmarking.
Decision Pack outputs are compiled into an exportable PDF report for internal review and stakeholder alignment.
7 Capabilities That Determine EU Market Readiness
We examine 7 capability areas independently (no single overall grade). Outputs follow a consistent, reproducible rule set, based on flagged gaps and evidence requirements.
The framework assesses preparedness and evidence-readiness. It does not provide country-specific legal or tax opinions.
The diagnostic covers 20 commercial NACE sections (A–T). Sections U (Households as Employers) and V (Extraterritorial Organisations) are classification reference points and are not assessed as market entry pathways.
Designed for SME decision clarity, and for institutional programs requiring comparability and auditability.
Unfamiliar with a term? Every technical and regulatory term used in this assessment is defined in our glossary.
On Decision Before Expansion
Most EU market entry failures are not legal failures.
They are sequencing failures.
Companies incorporate before clarifying their entry model.
They sign distributors before testing demand.
They invest in structure before defining evidence.
The European market does not punish ambition.
It punishes incoherence.
Before entering a new market, a firm must be able to answer a small set of decision-critical questions:
What must be true before we expand?
What evidence supports this move?
What risks are acknowledged and owned?
Who is accountable for the decision?
If these questions remain unclear, execution will compensate with improvisation.
The purpose of structure is not to slow expansion. It is to make decision conditions explicit.
The Decision Hub was designed to formalise this discipline. It identifies decision-critical gaps, codifies structural blockers, grades evidence rather than assumptions, and produces an explicit outcome: Go, Conditional Go, or Hold.
Expansion deserves clarity before execution.
Structure before speed.
Evidence before incorporation.
That is our discipline.
Three Levels of Decision-Grade Readiness
Each tier builds on the previous one. Pick the level of insight that matches your stage.
Entry Check
A calibration conversation: your reading of your readiness, set against the method's, across the seven capabilities.
- Strategic readiness verdict: Go, Conditional Go, or Hold
- Top risk area and top blocker identified
- Introduction to the AFT 7-Capability Framework
- About five minutes, no preparation required
- Free, one-time, no expiry
AFT Essentials Assessment
Personalised gap analysis, calibrated to your NACE Rev. 2.1 sector.
- Approximately 29 diagnostic questions across the seven capabilities
- Capability grades benchmarked against your sector via the AFT Sector Lens
- Three priority gaps, ranked by severity
- Three sector-specific regulatory signals
- Strategic readiness verdict: Go, Conditional Go, or Hold
- Sector intelligence summary for your industry
- 6-month online access
- €300 upgrade credit applied to the Decision Pack within 90 days
AFT Decision Pack
Comprehensive decision-grade diagnostic, full evidence roadmap, longitudinal progression tracking.
- Everything in Essentials, plus:
- Approximately 50 questions, evidence-weighted confidence assessment
- Sector-applicable regulatory requirements (NACE Rev. 2.1 calibrated)
- Complete sector intelligence across five regulatory cluster groups
- Phased evidence roadmap with 30, 60, and 90-day sequencing
- Common pitfalls and warning cards specific to your sector
- Division-specific analysis where applicable
- Conformity Responsibility Map for your sector's regulatory landscape
- Exportable PDF Decision Pack, suitable for advisers and partners
- 12-month online access with unlimited retakes
- Evolution Tracker, longitudinal readiness progression
| Feature | Entry Check | Essentials | Decision Pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Questions | ~15 | ~29 | ~50 |
| Readiness verdict | |||
| Seven capability grades | |||
| Top risk area + blocker | |||
| Priority gap analysis (×3) | |||
| Sector regulatory signals (×3) | |||
| Sector benchmarks | |||
| Applicable sector requirements (NACE-calibrated) | |||
| Sector intelligence (5 cluster groups) | |||
| Evidence roadmap, 30/60/90-day sequencing | |||
| Common pitfalls and warning cards | |||
| Division-specific analysis | |||
| Conformity Responsibility Map | |||
| Evidence-weighted confidence scoring | |||
| Exportable PDF Decision Pack | |||
| Evolution Tracker, longitudinal | |||
| Online access | One-time | 6 months | 12 months, unlimited retakes |
| Upgrade credit | €300 within 90 days | ||
| Price | Free | €300 | €1,500 |
AFT Decision Pack + Advisory Session, €1,900
Includes a one-hour advisory session with the founder, scoped to your decision. The hour can be used at any point during your 12-month access window.
For organisations, institutions, or multi-stakeholder projects, we offer tailored engagement structures. to discuss your requirements.
To see how the framework supports institutions and programmes, visit For Institutions.
Looking for hands-on support with your EU market entry? Explore our Advisory services →
See also: Decision Pack · Evidence-Weighted Assessment
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Questions about the four tiers
Scope-bounded answers about what each tier includes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Methodology, scope, and commercial terms.
Still unsure?
Get in touchThis is a readiness and decision tool, not a legal or incorporation service.