You are here

Share this
Mail this page
Print
Back to top
Newsletters

BusinessEurope Headlines No. 2016-37

President Emma Marcegaglia comments on the result of US presidential elections

“Signals of reconciliation and reassurance needed to avoid economic uncertainty,” said BusinessEurope President Emma Marcegaglia on the result of US presidential elections. “After a divisive electoral campaign, we hope to see signals of reconciliation and reassurance rapidly. The United States are and will remain the most important partner of the European Union in shaping a fair and rule-based globalisation to the benefit of all. Many examples in the past have demonstrated that free trade done in a fair way leads to peace and prosperity whereas isolation is the road to poverty and conflicts. The European business community will therefore continue to support a close strategic and economic partnership with the US and a deepening of transatlantic economic ties, including a fair TTIP. The 45th President of the US is an entrepreneur. We hope that his decisions will be driven by political and economic reason.”

Contact: Daniele Olivieri

Advisory and Support Group CEO Event 2016

On 8 November, President Emma Marcegaglia, Director General Markus J. Beyrer, three Vice-Presidents of BusinessEurope and CEOs of its Advisory and Support Group gathered in Brussels and met EU leaders. The group exchanged views with Vice-President Jyrki Katainen on the challenges the EU is facing and on how to foster growth and job creation and trigger investment in Europe. With High Representative Federica Mogherini, the CEOs discussed trade policy and Europe’s position in the world. The group also met Commissioner Günther Oettinger to discuss the digitalisation of industry and the development of the digital economy. The topic of better regulation and ensuring that competitiveness is at the heart of EU policy-making was discussed with Secretary-General Alexander Italianer. The CEOs also met with Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič to discuss the power market reform and moving towards a connected Energy Union in Europe.

Contact: Jérôme P. Chauvin​

USA will remain most important partner in shaping global economy

“The transatlantic relationship between the United States and the European Union defines the shape of the global economy as a whole. The United States are and will remain the most important partner of the European Union in shaping a fair and rule-based globalisation to the benefit of all”, said Markus J. Beyrer at the Transatlantic Business Conference 2016 in Frankfurt, Germany. He underlined the need to reinvigorate EU-US relations as both have special responsibilities when it comes to trade and globalisation. “If Europe and the Unites States want to shape globalisation according to our high standards in areas like consumer and product safety, including food safety, social and environmental protection we need to be able to conclude and implement comprehensive and modern trade agreements like TTIP”, added BusinessEurope Director General at the conference.

Contact: Dominik Futschik

Check out our COP22 campaign page!

BusinessEurope welcomes the entry into force of the Paris Agreement and stresses business expectations for COP22 climate conference in Marrakech. We have launched a dedicated webpage on which we will publish a series of blogs, videos and position papers during the COP22.
Check out our:

● Press release on entry into force of Paris Agreement.
● Opening blog by COP expert Nick Campbell.
● Video on the start of COP22 with expectations by BusinessEurope.
● Links to side events co-organized by BusinessEurope on circular economy (11 Nov), a business dialogue with CGEM (13 Nov) and the role of business in INDCs (18 Nov).
● Position papers of BizMEF, co-written and endorsed by BusinessEurope. Topics are the role of business in the UNFCCC, GHG markets and Article 6, perspectives on COP22, and transparency and measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems

Contact: Leon de Graaf

Markus J. Beyrer at the Macroeconomic Dialogue (MED) at political level

“European business expects the EU’s economic recovery to continue despite an increasingly challenging international environment”, BusinessEurope’s Director General Markus J. Beyrer said at the Macroeconomic Dialogue (MED) at political level on 7 November 2016. The MED provides a forum for exchanging views between the European Commission, Council, European Central Bank and social partners. Markus J. Beyrer further emphasised that more needs to be done to address barriers to global trade and to improve the EU’s investment attractiveness. Please find a link to the speech here. Photo copyright European Union

  Contact: Frederik Lange

Europe needs to think Digital

“European industry must succeed in the digital economy. Digitalisation is no longer a choice for European businesses. It is a necessity to remain globally competitive. Even more so, it offers vast opportunities to all sized businesses in all sectors,” said BusinessEurope’s Director General Markus J. Beyrer on 4 November at the General Assembly of ETNO, the European Telecoms Network Operators Association. After stressing the current investment challenges Europe is facing, also in crucial areas like connectivity infrastructure, he made a call to rethink Europe’s approach to regulation in order to create the right conditions for business to innovate and invest. If done correctly, digitalisation could be worth 1.25 trillion euros for Europe’s industry by 2025 - but the losses from not grasping digital could be up to 600 billion euros. Photo copyright Geoffrey Fritsch

Contact: Guido Lobrano​

Europe and India need to unlock the benefits of trade and investment

“The trade and investment relationship between the EU and India is far from reaching its potential”, BusinessEurope’s Director of International Relations, Luisa Santos, mentioned at the 4th EU-India Trade and Investment Partnership Summit in Brussels on 8 November. “Although India is the EU’s 9th largest trading partner, there are a number of barriers that continue to hamper the trade and investment India so strongly seeks.” Some of these barriers are tariffs, additional duties and levies on high-end products, specific product regulations that deviate from international standards, and non-transparent public procurement procedures. While India has embarked on positive reforms since Modi entered into office in 2014, the road ahead is difficult and European business calls on the Indian government to do their utmost to further improve the ease of doing business in India. “Improvement in trade and investment conditions will create more jobs and help make India a more prosperous country”, Santos concluded.

Contact: Maurice Fermont

Moving towards the European data economy

The data economy is paving the way for the ongoing industrial digital transformation, based on a growing ecosystem of advanced computing, collection and analysis of data and connectivity. BusinessEurope just adopted its paper “Towards a European data economy” stressing that Europe needs to adopt an innovation-friendly approach to data to empower the digitalisation process. Issues like data ownership, access and liability are adequately addressed by existing regulation. Legislative intervention is not necessary, as the existing framework and contractual arrangements are sufficient. At the same time, Companies need to be able to efficiently transfer data across borders. BusinessEurope fully supports an EU legislative initiative specifically focusing on the removal of any restrictions to the free flow of data.

  Contact: Guido Lobrano​

No benefits to business with the revision of the posting of workers directive

“BusinessEurope is against the proposed revision of the posting of workers directive. The proposal to change the law applicable to employment contract, in case of a longer posting, would lead to legal uncertainty, for both employers and workers. The rules on subcontracting would cause burdens for subcontractors which would have to pay their workers differently, depending on the contract they are engaged in. Moreover, many subcontractors may not be in a position to comply with the employment conditions set in their main contractor’s collective agreements, leading to job losses. Current rules on posting are appropriate. The focus should be on better enforcement and more effective fight against illegal practices.” were the main messages given by the Chair of BusinessEurope Industrial Relations Working Group Nils Trampe, at the hearing in the European Parliament’s Employment Committee on the revision of the posting directive held in Brussels on 8 November 2016. 

Contact: Magdalena Bober

Accessibility is not black and white

It is commercially sensible to enable a product or service to be useable by as many people as possible. That is why business understands the European Commission’s objective of achieving a greater involvement of people with disabilities in society. But the approach taken in the European Accessibility Act will not meet this objective. This message was delivered by BusinessEurope’s Internal Market Adviser, Patrick Grant, at an exchange of views in the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. He concluded that: “accessibility is not a topic that can be clearly measured but relies upon constant communication between people with disabilities and businesses so that development can keep up with societal needs”. BusinessEurope’s position on the European Accessibility Act can be found here.

  Contact: Patrick Grant

Calendar

Last updated: 10 November 2016