BusinessEurope

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17/10/2018

EU-US relations: Beyrer meets US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

European business is keen to actively support any actions that create more trade and investment opportunities for both US and EU companies - was the main message given by Markus J. Beyrer in the meeting today with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers for all industrial goods would be an important step in this direction.

16/10/2018

Speeches

Gattaz: extremely concerned about lack of progress in Brexit negotiations

Social EU social dialogue

“Avoiding a chaotic Brexit is a top priority for us”, said BusinessEurope President Pierre Gattaz today at the Tripartite Social Summit in Brussels. “It’s absolutely essential to finalise the withdrawal agreement with a transition period, to allow time for ratification”. At the meeting in the European Council building in Brussels, Gattaz also said: “There is urgent need to put our European house in order. The EU economy has been growing at a good pace but there are risks linked to political uncertainty and rising protectionism”. For Gattaz, EU leaders must show that they are able to bring real answers to the key challenges facing Europe: Brexit, digitalisation, strengthening the European economic and Monetary Union, and migration. Speech - Photos

10/10/2018

Press releases

Companies treasure Europe’s key foundations and values

On the initiative of its new President, Pierre Gattaz, BusinessEurope has gathered its members for a seminar in Paris on 9 and 10 October to define their expectations on the evolution of the further construction of Europe, its key foundations and values, in view of the European elections in 2019. This seminar has united 85 top representatives of its 39 member federations. A wide and open survey was conducted beforehand to determine the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of Europe and the risks it is facing. Pierre Gattaz commented: "This seminar is a first step to build a common vision of what European companies are expecting. While some people want to question the construction of Europe as we have known it for 60 years, companies have reiterated their commitment to further develop the Single Market and strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union. Europe is not an option but a necessity. It must evolve towards more efficiency and simplification but the direction is the right one. Do not give in to simplistic solutions." Read more

26/09/2018

Speeches

Gattaz: We need a new global order, not a global mess

"In a world undergoing profound changes, companies are a crucial factor of adaptation while ensuring stability. My main task as President of BusinessEurope will be to make sure that uncertainties we are facing lead to a new global order rather than to a global mess", Pierre Gattaz said at the opening gala of the European Forum for New Ideas (EFNI). The 8^th edition of this forum took place from 26 to 28 September in Sopot, Poland, and has been organised since 2011 by the Polish Confederation Lewiatan in cooperation with BusinessEurope. The event, which gathers over a thousand participants, is dedicated to global trends, new ideas and the future of Europe. During his speech, President Gattaz highlighted that “the next years will be decisive. Free movement of goods, services, capital and people is an absolute 'must' to build a strong Europe". And to end up with an improved global trade system, "we will need to deepen existing partnerships and develop new ones, especially in our neighbourhood”, he concluded. Photo copyright: K.RAINKA

25/09/2018

Speeches

European industry: need to transition to low-carbon economy

“The energy transition is very much driven by the need to combat climate change. European industry is fully engaged in making the transition to a low-carbon economy a reality. Different sectors are facing different challenges.” These were key messages conveyed by Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope at the Global Wind Summit 2018 in Hamburg. Beyrer also explained evolutions in positions within the business community, reflecting new market realities, technological developments and public perception.

Please read his full keynote speech here

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14/09/2018

Event

Connectivity - Building bridges between Europe and Asia

On 18 October 2018, BusinessEurope will host the 16th Asia-Europe Business Forum (AEBF) in Brussels, Belgium, under the auspices of the European Union Institutions. This event will bring together around 450 business leaders from Asia and Europe who share the goal of strengthening trade and investment relations between the two continents. The AEBF will take place in parallel with the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which brings together 53 partners, all EU countries, Norway, Switzerland, 21 Asian countries and other members. The Forum is therefore an ideal platform to engage with political leaders from both regions, to share ideas on how to tackle today’s and tomorrows’ challenges and boost economic growth, development and job creation across the two continents.

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31/08/2018

Facts and figures

EU unemployment at its lowest since the financial crisis

The strengthening of economic growth has led to a further improvement on labour markets. Eurostat’s latest unemployment figures, released today, show that EU unemployment is with 6.8% in July 2018 back to pre-crisis levels, and well below the 11% in March 2013 at the peak of the Eurozone crisis. Despite these improvements, unemployment rates still remain uneven across EU countries, with three EU Member States facing rates (well) above 10%. Of particular concern is that even at this early stage of the recovery, there are already signs of the emergence of a structural mismatch, where business across the EU increasingly report difficulties in hiring workers. As our Spring Economic Outlook outlined, the share of industrial enterprises which indicate that insufficient labour limits their production is already at twice the pre-crisis share and the highest on record since 1985. Against this background, we need to see urgent policy action to avoid that labour market mismatches increasingly act as a break on economic growth over the coming years.

13/08/2018

News

Africa and the EU need to move closer

Trade Africa and the Caribbean

At the end of this month, negotiations on a Post-Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are due to be launched. Even if the agreement will cover three very different regions, it presents an important opportunity to reshape the relations between the EU and Africa and adapt them to the realities of the 21^st century. Home to a relatively young population of 1.2 billion people and some of the world’s fastest growing economies, Africa is a vibrant continent that presents tremendous business opportunities. Read more

17/10/2018

News

EU-US relations: Beyrer meets US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

16/10/2018

Speeches

Gattaz: extremely concerned about lack of progress in Brexit negotiations

10/10/2018

Press releases

Companies treasure Europe’s key foundations and values

26/09/2018

Speeches

Gattaz: We need a new global order, not a global mess

25/09/2018

Speeches

European industry: need to transition to low-carbon economy

14/09/2018

Event

Connectivity - Building bridges between Europe and Asia

31/08/2018

Facts and figures

EU unemployment at its lowest since the financial crisis

13/08/2018

News

Africa and the EU need to move closer

News and stories

Priorities

Key websites

Key event

The 16th Asia-Europe Business Forum is the official business side event of the Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) organised by BusinessEurope. Watch this video to know more about the ASEM summit

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Asia-Europe Business Forum 2018

Connectivity - Building bridges between Europe and Asia

The Asia-Europe Business Forum (AEBF) brings together business leaders from Asia and Europe who share the goal of strengthening trade and investment relations between the two continents. The AEBF traditionally...

12th ASEM Summit

The 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit will take place on 18-19 October 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The ASEM summit will bring together heads of state or government of 51 European and Asian countries, representatives of the European Union, the Secretary General of the Association...

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Digital transformation of public procurement

The digital transformation of public procurement will bring huge changes to the sector, but it also offers increased competitiveness of our economies. It will improve the efficiency of public services and make public procurement more attractive for businesses. For this reason, the digital...

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