Speaking at the Tripartite Social Summit video conference on behalf of employers, BusinessEurope President Pierre Gattaz said: "Faced with the worst economic crisis since the second world war, the European Union has mobilised unprecedented financial resources. Now is the time to make the next steps to pave the way to a solid recovery. Entreprises are key to achieve Europe’s ambitions. Based on signals received from members, BusinessEurope has to issue a wake-up call: companies cannot absorb additional burden on top of the crisis! The EU Recovery and Resilience Facility offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our economies by boosting productivity, growth and competitiveness. To make sure we make optimal use of these funds, the EU must focus on three priorities: 1. putting in place a well-articulated European economic agenda, 2. pursuing effective better regulation policies, 3. accelerating roll out of vaccines and minimising restrictions at internal borders within our Single Market. Read the full speech

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer participated in a roundtable to discuss the preparations for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) with Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, Director General Gerassimos Thomas (DG TAXUD) and representatives of business federations and NGOs. He underlined that given its unilateral nature, a CBAM risks to unlevel the playing field with international competitors. It is therefore of utmost importance to maintain existing mechanisms like the free allowances under the ETS to maintain European companies' competitiveness, specifically on third markets. "Removing free allowances before having put the CBAM to test and proven its effectiveness would be dangerous and irresponsible", he said. Beyrer further underlined the importance of WTO compatibility and early reach-out for a transparent dialogue with trading partners, especially in our immediate neighbourhood, to minimise the risk of harmful retaliatory measures.

Today, President Pierre Gattaz spoke at the EU Industry Days plenary debate "Green = growth, or how European companies can champion green transition". He welcomed the European Commission’s timely decision to update the European industrial strategy. It is a golden opportunity to not only accelerate the green and digital transformation, but also to rethink our economic, social, and industrial reality, especially considering the impact of Covid-19. Gattaz also stressed that we will only succeed making Europe the first climate-neutral continent with a strong and frank dialogue. The speed with which we will overcome the challenges and maximise the opportunities will be determined by our capacity to discuss and collectively answer the many "HOW questions" that are still unanswered today. That is why BusinessEurope today launched a new initiative called "Climate Dialogues". Gattaz invited policy-makers, civil society, scientists, industrialists and everyone interested to join our discussion on HOW to reach climate neutrality. More information here