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28/06/2024

High time for a new European competitiveness deal: Message to the Hungarian EU Presidency

Presidents and Directors General of our member federations gathered in Budapest at the invitation of our Hungarian member federation MGYOSZ – BusinessHungary. We shared business priorities for the Hungarian Presidency with Tamás Sulyok, President of Hungary, and Màrton Nagy, Minister of National Economy. “Now is the time to fill with life the new European competitiveness deal that will ensure the European Union remains home to successful companies that create quality jobs as part of an economically successful green and digital transition", said President Fredrik Persson, "and this will require a reboot of EU policies". Our priorities for the second half of 2024: better regulation within a well-integrated Single Market, open strategic autonomy to strengthen Europe globally, and an ambitious industrial strategy for a resilient future. We also exchanged views with Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute. We welcomed his call for a reboot of the Single Market to meet the demands of today's global landscape. - Read more - Photo © Sándor Palota

24/06/2024

Speeches

How to create a new Single Market for a new world order?

"Europe's global influence comes from its economic strength and openness", BusinessEurope President Fredrik Persson said at this year's edition of our German member federation BDI's flagship event "Day of Industry - Cohesion in Polarized Worlds". He participated in a panel discussion on how to create a new Single Market for a new world order. "Today", he added, "this strength is weakened due to factors such as high energy bills, heavy regulations, lengthy permits. The next EU leaders must tackle these issues while keeping Europe open to trade." Other panellists were Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board, ECB; Nils Aldag, CEO, Sunfire; Christian Sewing, CEO, Deutsche Bank.

Photo © Kristian Kruppa & Jana Legler

18/06/2024

Speeches

How to reignite the EU’s economy: debate with Austrian industry

Speaking at the Industry Reception 2024, organised by our member Federation of Austrian Industries (IV), Director General Markus J. Beyrer emphasised the need for enhancing investment conditions across Europe in the upcoming political mandate. “Only an economically strong Europe can play a strong global role, only successful companies can create and secure high-quality jobs”, he said, noting Europe has been lagging behind global competitors in economic growth and investment. To reignite the economy, the EU must tackle high energy prices, reduce regulatory burdens, unleash the full potential of the Single Market and pursue an ambitious trade policy. Beyrer highlighted the European Council's recent emphasis on a ‘New Competitiveness Deal’ to enhance Europe's global standing. “We need swift and decisive action from European institutions to translate words into effective policies”, he added.

11/06/2024

Press releases

Pro-European majority needs to put competitiveness front and centre

BusinessEurope and the entire European business community congratulate the new Members of the European Parliament on their election and welcome the strong voter turnout across the continent that proves that citizens care about Europe. BusinessEurope President Fredrik Persson said: "EU elections have seen a clear winner. We urge the main political forces to organise the pro-European majority in the European Parliament to take the necessary action to improve competitiveness and agree upon the future EU leaders as soon as possible. Economic ambition, political stability and predictability are key for the EU’s economic growth and its attractiveness for investment which are the prerequisite of the wellbeing of European citizens. To deliver for society, the EU needs strong companies as much as European companies need a strong European Union to succeed. This was our key message leading up to the elections, where we also called for a reboot in EU policies to safeguard Europe’s competitiveness." - Read more

05/06/2024

Reports and studies

Spring Economic Outlook: EU growth to pick up slightly, but challenges remain

With the European elections only days away, today we release our Spring Economic Outlook which bolsters our call for a reboot in EU policymaking to ensure Europe’s competitiveness and strengthen its industrial base. The report shows that EU businesses now expect the EU economy to grow by 1.2% in 2024, increasing to 1.8% in 2025. This is a 0.4 pp downward revision for 2024 in comparison to our Autumn Economic Outlook. Commenting on the report, BusinessEurope Director General, Markus J. Beyrer noted, "There are signs that growth in the EU economy may bounce back a little this year, with rising real wages and the prospect of lower interest rates both likely to increase demand. But improvements in overall EU output must not distract us from the huge challenges being faced by the industrial sector, particularly as a result of high energy prices and an increasing regulatory burden. EU industrial output remains barely above pre-Covid levels, with capacity utilisation at its lowest level since 2013 (if the Covid period is excluded)." - Read the full report here.

20/05/2024

Speeches

B7 Summit in Rome: Leading the transitions together

On 17 May, BusinessEurope participated in the B7 Summit in Rome together with leaders of the other business federations from the G7 countries. Director General Markus J. Beyrer in his keynote intervention underlined that “We have very different economic realities among G7 countries, but there is one thing that unites G7 economies: we want to improve our competitiveness to achieve more economic growth.” To support our shared competitiveness, G7 countries need to coordinate on industrial subsidies and have a joint approach to address overcapacity, avoiding unilateral actions that go against multilateral commitments. We should increase our economic resilience and maintain high ambition on carbon emissions targets. B7 delegates also had an opportunity to share their views on the challenges facing G7 countries with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. - Read more

28/06/2024

Position papers

Message to the Hungarian EU Presidency

24/06/2024

Speeches

How to create a new Single Market for a new world order?

18/06/2024

Speeches

How to reignite the EU’s economy: debate with Austrian industry

11/06/2024

Press releases

Pro-European majority needs to put competitiveness front and centre

05/06/2024

Reports and studies

Spring Economic Outlook: EU growth to pick up slightly, but challenges remain

20/05/2024

Speeches

B7 Summit in Rome: Leading the transitions together

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Paving the way beyond BEPS and Pillars

This year’s International Tax Conference, taking place in Munich, will provide a platform for an exchange between business representatives, key OECD and EU as well as national government officials. It is jointly organised in cooperation between the ICC, Business@OECD and BusinessEurope.

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Inverting the Global Protectionist Drift - G7 Industry Stakeholders conference

In the framework of the Italian G7 Presidency, "Inverting the Global Protectionist Drift" is the third G7 Industry Stakeholders conference organized by B7 Italy. Taking place in conjunction with the G7 Ministerial meeting on trade, the conference stands as a unique platform for business to...

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European Mobility Week

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility. It encourages behavioural change in favour of active mobility, public transport and other clean, intelligent transport solutions.

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