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BusinessEurope Headlines No. 2017-05

President Marcegaglia at International Industry Conference in Berlin

“A strong and competitive industry is crucial to weather the challenges our union is facing. We need coordinated action at the EU level now”, BusinessEurope President Emma Marcegaglia said at the International Industry conference in Berlin on 7 February 2017. Commenting on challenges she added: “In Europe we have a problem with attitude towards innovation. We have to learn to accept risks!” The conference was organised by the Alliance for the Future of Industry, which serves as a lighthouse for a structured dialogue on industrial competitiveness at the EU level. The new German Federal Economic Minister Brigitte Zypries and European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen also addressed the audience.

Contact: Nicolas Rathauscher - Photo ©: BMWi/Weiss

China’s reform agenda: what’s next for European companies?

“China can demonstrate leadership when needed. We saw this during its G20 chairmanship, in China’s support for the Paris Climate Agreement, and in President Xi’s speech at Davos. Now we ask China to take charge of rebalancing its relationship with the EU, to reciprocate on market access and investment facilitation, and to play its part to uphold the multilateral trading system”, Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, said at a business seminar on China hosted at BusinessEurope. He welcomed European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, who highlighted that Europe’s offer to China is one of open trade, but free and fair trade based on values and reciprocal market access. Jörg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, focused on China’s domestic economy and concluded that despite slowing growth, China still has the opportunity to undertake important reforms, but it needs to muster political will before the window of opportunity turns critical.

Contact: Maurice Fermont

Restoring European unity

“All the big challenges that Europe is facing today – security, migration, the UK's decision to leave the European Union, climate change, economic and social development – can only be tackled if we succeed in restoring European unity and recreate the conditions to be a prosperity and security zone”, BusinessEurope President Emma Marcegaglia said speaking on the future of Europe at the Industrie Club Düsseldorf on 7 February. “The European business community strongly believes in the future of Europe and is committed to contribute to finding solutions to these challenges. But if we don’t want to put at risk seven decades of peace and stability in Europe and unprecedented economic prosperity and social well-being, European leaders must act now!”, President Marcegaglia concluded.

Contact: Daniele Olivieri​

Director General Beyrer meets President of EPC Herman Van Rompuy

“A resilient and growing economy with further reduction of unemployment is fundamental to mitigate citizens’ anxieties about the future, which fuel populism”, Director General Markus J. Beyrer said at an informal meeting with Herman Van Rompuy, President of the EPC on 2 February in Brussels.  Besides the future of Europe, they also discussed trade issues and the importance of international trade for European prosperity. “EU leaders must address the concerns of companies and citizens without shying away from the difficult issues”, Markus J. Beyrer concluded.

Contact: Dominik Futschik

Director General Beyrer congratulates new BDI President Kempf

Markus J. Beyrer joined the gala celebration of the German industry federation BDI in Berlin on 7 February. During the evening event the outgoing BDI President Ulrich Grillo handed over the presidency to his successor Dieter Kempf. Mr Beyrer seized the opportunity to thank Mr Grilo for the successful cooperation during the last years and to wish Mr Kempf all the best in his new position.

Contact: Dominik Futschik - Photo ©: Christian Kruppa

EU and US business stress the importance of the transatlantic relationship

“It is clear that for the moment TTIP is not on the table. However, US and EU business should work together to underline the importance of the transatlantic relationship, not only in terms of trade but especially in terms of investment and jobs”,  Director General Markus J. Beyrer said at a meeting with the US Chamber of Commerce that took place at the AmCham EU offices in Brussels on 6 February. “We must give some time to the new administration to settle in, but BusinessEurope is eager to engage with them and travel to Washington at an early stage”, Mr Beyrer added.

Contact: Eleonora Catella

How to create the right environment for digital trade

Digital trade has become a fundamental factor in the development of the global economy. It concerns the economy as a whole: fostering employment, entrepreneurship, innovation and growth. However, barriers to digital trade exist and there is a growing tendency to digital protectionism that needs to be addressed. Typical restrictions include: tariff measures, investment restrictions, limitations on cross-border data flows and forced data localisation. In a new position paper, BusinessEurope explores the existing legal framework on digital trade – at the multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral levels – and proposes recommendations on a possible way forward, towards a more harmonised international environment and, potentially, an agreement on digital trade. For BusinessEurope, it is important that such an agreement follows a set of principles, including: the recognition of free cross-border data flows as a horizontal principle and the creation of a global level playing field. BusinessEurope will continue to work actively in the area of digital trade – the position paper is only a first contribution to the current debate.

  Contact: Sofia Bournou​

Ensuring single data protection rules across the single market

“Member states need to step up their efforts to ensure consistent implementation of the general data protection regulation across the EU”, Deputy Director Guido Lobrano said at a conference organised by the Italian confederation Confindustria in Rome on 3 February. In a panel debate with the European Data Protection Supervisor, the President of the Italian data protection authority and the Italian Ministry of Justice, he also stressed that member states have a large scope to tailor the national implementation of the new regulation. Therefore the European Commission needs to ensure strong coordination and, where possible, urge member states to justify diverging approaches. BusinessEurope is working closely with national federations to monitor the implementation process.

  Contact: Guido Lobrano​​

Making the European Accessibility Act a reality

BusinessEurope met  Vicky Ford, Chair of the European Parliament’s IMCO Committee, on 2 February to discuss topical single market issues including the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The EAA provides the framework for EU implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and is currently being discussed in the European Parliament’s IMCO Committee. While BusinessEurope fully understands the European Commission’s objectives of enabling a greater amount of people with disabilities to take part in society, the European Parliament should ensure that the directive does not impose disproportionate obligations on companies, hamper innovation or create new single market barriers in practice.

  Contact: Basje Bender​

The single market must remain a top priority for Europe

It is essential to remove remaining barriers to free movement and make it easier for companies to operate throughout the single market. This will not only create growth and jobs, it will also make Europe more competitive as a global player. This was stressed by Deputy Director General Jérôme P. Chauvin at a meeting with the Director of European and International Affairs at the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands Yvette van Eechoud and a delegation from the Dutch Permanent Representation. The services package presented by the European Commission in January is timely and welcome, as services are the area where the greatest growth potential can be unleashed. The proposals for a European services e-card need to be improved to ensure that the card brings real added value for the companies in the construction and business services sectors, and truly saves time and costs. We expect the Single Digital Gateway to offer companies all the information and assistance they need to operate across borders and on the home market in multiple languages, including the possibility to complete procedures entirely online.

  Contact: Jeroen Hardenbol

Recommendations for improving EU merger control

As the European Commission is currently evaluating the procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control, BusinessEurope has adopted its recommendations for improving merger rules. We support the European Commission’s intention to make merger control more efficient through procedural simplification for unproblematic transactions and case referrals. However, the proposed additional jurisdictional threshold, based on the value of the transaction, would be excessive and disproportionate.  Competition policy can play a crucial role in supporting innovation and putting the best possible environment for it in place, as well as in the development and success of companies in Europe.

  Contact: Guido Lobrano​​

BusinessEurope’s letter to MEPs ahead of EU ETS plenary vote

“The European Parliament's Committee on Environment managed to strike a fair balance on many aspects of the reform of the European emissions trading system”, BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said in a letter to key MEPs ahead of the plenary vote in mid-February. “However, we call on the European Parliament to reconsider key issues, such as the import inclusion scheme and the thresholds on the cross-sectoral correction factor”, he continued. Both create artificial distortions between sectors under the EU ETS by favouring some sectors on the carbon leakage list at the expense of others. In the letter, Mr Beyrer also reiterated BusinessEurope’s position to keep the linear reduction factor at 2.2% as long as Europe’s main trading partners have not implemented comparable measures, and to make benchmarks as realistic as possible.

  Contact: Leon de Graaf​​

How to ensure more access to US public procurement markets for EU companies

“The US public procurement market is the second largest in the world and EU companies are calling for more opportunities there”, Trade Senior Adviser Eleonora Catella said at the roundtable ‘TTIP: risks or opportunities? An exchange of views between stakeholders and political decision-makers’  in Bologna, Italy, on 6 February. The event was organised by the International Research Centre on European Law of the University of Bologna (C.I.R.D.E), which is part of the Jean Monnet Network ‘Law-TTIP’. Many restrictions prevent European companies from accessing public procurement markets in the USA at the federal, state and local levels. TTIP offers a good opportunity to address such restrictions, but with negotiations in standby and announcements of toughening “Buy American” provisions, current difficulties may become more problematic in the future.

Contact: Eleonora Catella

Calendar

Last updated: 9 February 2017