BusinessEurope Headlines No. 2016-29

Unity, Prosperity, Security – BusinessEurope’s message to the Bratislava Summit

Ahead of the meeting of heads of state and government at the Bratislava Summit on 16 September, BusinessEurope and its 40 national member federations have sent their key messages on how to build a better Europe and what they expect in future negotiations with the United Kingdom. The EU must restore unity and urgently recreate the conditions to be a prosperity and security zone. The strategy to do so should include both rapid deliverables as well as longer term solutions. Productive private and public investment is key to create better opportunities for all citizens. The negotiations to define future EU-UK relations should aim at maintaining as close economic relations as possible between the EU and the UK without undermining EU integration. The integrity of the Single Market must be maintained without cherry picking between the four Single Market freedoms.

Director General Markus J. Beyrer calls upon the EU for smart policy

"European business is very much on board when it comes to shifting towards a circular economy. We are committed to take more actions as circular economy offers opportunities for all businesses along the entire value chain. What we need now is that EU institutions continue to amplify actions towards ‘smart policy’", BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said at the Sustainable Industry Conference in the context of Circular Economy in Kosice, Slovakia on 13 September. He added: "Smart policy starts by making the best use of existing legislations. It is about looking at existing barriers and about making sure that it does not create a distortion between public and private operators." The high level conference was organized by BusinessEurope’s Slovak member RUZ and welcomed representatives from industry, politics and civil society.

EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will open up new opportunities

“Vietnam has chosen to support its growth and develop further in a sustainable way, by being open to trade and engaging closer with the European Union” Markus J. Beyrer said at the conference ‘EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement: get ready for the new opportunities’ BusinessEurope co-organised with the Embassy of Vietnam on 14 September in Brussels. Vietnam has transformed into an attractive investment destination and the EU is one of the largest foreign investors in the country; the Free Trade Agreement will open up further opportunities, especially for small companies. BusinessEurope hopes the agreement will serve as an example for the other deals the EU is negotiating with developing countries in South-East Asia. We look forward to an early implementation, so that the agreement’s expected benefits can take effect as soon as possible.

Contact: Eleonora Catella

Business is key in making the Paris Agreement on Climate Change a success

“Business involvement is crucial in the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). We need more transparency on how EU governments want to achieve their national targets, and how they want to converge global climate ambitions.” said BusinessEurope Industrial Affairs Director Alexandre Affre, at the Workshop on Business Engagement in the Paris agreement. The event was organised on 12 September by the Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF), the voice of business at the OECD (BIAC), and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB). BusinessEurope also presented examples of business involvement at EU level in the preparation of INDCs in the run-up to the Paris Agreement. Though Member States have consulted the business community, there are significant differences in terms of how much their worries have been taken into account. BusinessEurope fully supports the rapid ratification of the Paris Agreement by the EU, and urges Member States to continue the dialogue with the business community on how to effectively achieve the goals of this historic agreement.

Contact: Leon De Graaf

Cost-effective apprenticeships central to fostering employer engagement

“Well-functioning apprenticeship systems involve employers in the governance structures. They take into account cost-drivers for companies to encourage enterprises to invest in apprenticeship training. Companies are then able to recoup their investments, as they profit from a better skills fit and the partial productivity of learners during their training”, said BusinessEurope’s Social Affairs Adviser Robert Plummer, at the Vocational Education and Training Policy Sharing Seminar on 14 September. Building on its recent project on the cost-effectiveness of apprenticeships, BusinessEurope is involved in further discussions on the future priorities for apprenticeships in the framework of the EU’s Advisory Committee on Vocational Training where a tripartite opinion is currently being prepared. The goal is to reinvigorate European and national actions in a coordinated manner by the Commission, the Member States and social partners towards better performing apprenticeship systems across Europe.

Evaluating the Consumer Rights Directive

“The 2011 Consumer Rights Directive, now under evaluation, was an important step towards a clearer and further harmonised business-to-consumer contract law framework. It set a level playing field for important e-commerce rules such as pre-contractual information, rules on returns, refunds and delivery. Despite of some implementation problems and compliance costs BusinessEurope does not see the need to re-open the directive. The focus should be to continue awareness and clarification, especially among small companies and consumers.”, underlined the Chairman of BusinessEurope’s Consumer Marketing Working Group, Jacek Barankiewicz, during a hearing at the European Economic and Social Committee on the Evaluation of the Consumer Rights Directive on 14 September.

Contact: Pedro Oliveira

Calendar

12-15 September 2016: EP plenary in Strasbourg
16 September 2016: Special meeting, Bratislava
18 September 2016: Russian parliamentary elections
28-30 September 2016: European Forum for New Ideas - The Future of Work. Realities, Dreams and Delusions, Sopot, Poland

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