Future of Europe

At the inaugural plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe, Director General Markus J. Beyrer laid out our expectations for this exercise.  He argued that if we want to maintain our cherished European way of life, we need to be economically successful. Healthy and flourishing companies are the foundation for our global attractiveness. And it is the prerequisite to be able to pursue our societal, environmental, or social objectives. BusinessEurope and its members support this conference and its aim of listening to European citizens. We are however still uncertain about the process leading to the adoption of recommendations, and the political purpose of the recommendations. We have warned of them becoming a sort of new Commission Work Programme. The von der Leyen Commission has established a work programme which has been democratically adopted by leaders and the European Parliament. We also warn of overburdening citizens with expectations that cannot be met. We see a true political danger here: what if many suggestions are legally and politically not feasible? This could back-fire. BusinessEurope will publish its contribution in the 2nd half of the year.