Economic competitiveness is not only a microeconomic problem for business management. It is also an important indicator of comparison among the economic development, advancement and sustainability of respective countries. The investigation of macroeconomic competitiveness of individual states is at the forefront of the discourse of both macroeconomic experts and politicians. In this study we focus on the economic competitiveness of the BENELUX countries, that is Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. The objective of the article is to identify the position of the BENELUX countries as an economic union with respect to global economy and the potential for the growth and sustainability of BENELUX economic competitiveness. The first part of the article addresses the theoretical principles of the given problematic, delineates competitiveness within its economic determinants and positions a discussion with specific focus on the BENELUX countries. The article also addresses the cooperation within the union of these states in terms of sustainability of competitiveness. The empirical part of the article analyses the competitiveness of the chosen states using standard macroeconomic methods. Three indices were utilised in the analysis, the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), the ʻDoing Businessʼ index created by the World Bank, and the Economic Freedom Index (EFI). We have also subjected the selected indicators to a correlational analysis, the aim of which was to identify possible correlations between the chosen competitiveness index and a chosen parameter. The results of the analysis reveal the current economic position of the BENELUX countries, and outline the economic opportunities and threats to further development.

Building a competitive economy is based on the existence of competitive regions whose essential element in terms of sustainable development is the effectively functioning business sector. Typical representatives of the regional economy are the small and medium enterprises that often have the character of family businesses. The challenging competitive environment requires proactive responses to turbulent changes, and innovative activities have to be pursued in order to maintain activities and development on the market. Innovation is the driving force behind the development; it is a key issue to survive in a competitive business environment. Despite their quarter-century presence, family business in Slovakia are not addressed enough attention. This was the basic motif to review the current situation on the market. 330 business entities were involved in the first phase of our research. The aim if this article is to explore the innovative activity of small and medium enterprises having a character of family businesses in the regions of Slovakia, and also identify those important determinants that influence the innovation ability of the family businesses. The Chi-Square Test of Independence, the Pearson correlation coefficient and the mean value statistics were applied in the research. The findings of our case study aimed to reveal the trends linked to the innovation activity of family businesses.