The global economy continues to change rapidly due to technological, demographic as well as environmental change. Economic times are not getting easier. The coronavirus outbreak could slash global economic growth to 1.5 per cent in 2020. Europe will not be spared as COVID-19 could push some member states into recession. Policy coordination and coherence is more important than ever to ensure that the European Union successfully tackles the short-term and long-term challenges it is facing. These were the key messages by Markus J. Beyrer, BusinessEurope Director General, in a meeting with the European Council President Charles Michel and the European social partners on 12 March. - Read more

Photo: © European Union

"In today’s world, where Europe is accelerating its green and digital transformations and where other parts of the world use aggressive policies, with some playing outside of the rules, Europe needs to act more strategically. The industrial ecosystems and strategic value chains like batteries, hydrogen or the Internet of Things will be key to pool public-private finance and bring new technologies to the market", BusinessEurope President Pierre Gattaz stressed at a meeting with European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope. The meeting took place one day after the Commission published its new industrial strategy. In the context of the Green Deal, which BusinessEurope supports, Beyrer emphasised the importance of addressing the risk of carbon and investment leakage in order to maintain Europe’s attractiveness as a business location in the long run. - Read more