At the inaugural plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe, Markus J. Beyrer laid out our expectations for this exercise. If we want to maintain our cherished European way of life, he argued, we need to be economically successful. Healthy and flourishing companies are the foundation for our global attractiveness. And it is the prerequisite to be able to pursue our societal, environmental, or social objectives. BusinessEurope and its members support this conference and its aim of listening to European citizens. We are however still uncertain about the process leading to the adoption of recommendations, and the political purpose of the recommendations. We have warned of them becoming a sort of new Commission work programme. The von der Leyen Commission has established a work programme which has been democratically adopted by leaders and the European Parliament. We also warn of overburdening citizens with expectations that cannot be met. We see a true political danger here: what if many suggestions are legally and politically not feasible? This could back-fire. We will publish our contribution later this year.

Europe is faced with the worst crisis since World War II. It is very important to have an effective roadmap to overcome this crisis and at the same time effectively strengthen the position of Europe in terms of global competitiveness. The EU and Member States need to focus on how best to respond to one single overarching challenge: ensuring that the green and digital transitions bring real growth. To help deliver the recovery, Europe’s social agenda must support companies in their efforts to generate growth and employment, because this is the basis for social well-being and for investing in the green and digital transitions. These were the key messages by BusinessEurope’s Director General Markus J. Beyrer in a video address that was presented during a plenary meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) held on 31 May.