"EU-China relations have become more challenging recently. On the one hand, European companies are still confronted with significant asymmetries in our trade and investment relations. On the other hand, China's continuous zero-COVID policy and its ambiguous stance towards Russia's invasion of Ukraine have created additional risk factors for our businesses”, said Markus J. Beyrer, BusinessEurope Director General, at the official launch event of the new BusinessEurope paper "EU-China relations: Engaging with a systemic rival". Mr Beyrer's address was followed by a panel discussion between María Martín-Prat, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission Directorate General for Trade, Reinhard Bütikofer, Chair of the China delegation of the European Parliament, and Wolfgang Niedermark, Member of the Executive Board of BDI and Chair of the BusinessEurope's China Network. Luisa Santos, BusinessEurope Deputy Director General, moderated the discussions. - Read more
Tackling skyrocketing energy prices and finding ways to mitigate them is an urgent matter of survival for both European industries and households. Together with SPCR Vice-President Radek Spicar, BusinessEurope President Fredrik Persson and Director General Markus J. Beyrer had constructive meetings with Czech Prime Minister Fiala and Czech Minister Sikela to address this vital issue for European companies as well as current geopolitical tensions.
The EU and China are mutually important trading partners, but EU-China relations have been facing many challenges. Watch our President Fredrik Persson talk more about it. Our paper is available here.
"Tackling skyrocketing energy prices and finding ways to mitigate them is an urgent matter of survival for both European industries and households", President Fredrik Persson said just ahead of the extraordinary Energy Council meeting today. "Companies of all sizes are affected by the severity of the ongoing energy crisis. We welcome the momentum to swiftly adopt emergency measures at EU level. Coordinated European action is extremely important. It is critical to have the emergency measures on a temporary basis, to closely monitor their impact and to adjust if necessary. The options on the table are far-reaching interventions and are only justified due to the very exceptional circumstances. Europe needs to revert to the normal functioning of the energy market as soon as possible. This is the only way to create the conditions for companies to invest in the green transition". - Read more
BusinessEurope has updated its series of short papers showcasing examples of barriers that businesses and citizens face on the Single Market. We believe they are key to understand remaining bottlenecks, and facilitate informed decision-making. These examples illustrate barriers across a wide range of different policy areas, from the free movement of goods and services to company law, social policy coordination or transport. We appreciate the European Commission's analysis provided in the updated Industrial Strategy package of 5 May 2021, re-confirming the remaining Single Market challenges through the angle of 14 industrial eco-systems. We also support efforts in ensuring consistent follow-up to the long-term action plan on implementation and enforcement of Single Market rules (2020), as well as the annual Single Market Reports, including the latest one of 2022. However, tangible actions still need to be defined and taken to address the identified Single Market barriers. - Read more
Jürgen Thumann, who was President of BusinessEurope from 2009 to 2013, passed on 11 August 2022 shortly before his 81st birthday. He was a real entrepreneur, a great President of BusinessEurope and a very charming person. His sincere commitment to European integration and to the transatlantic economy as well as his personal support to BusinessEurope will be missed. The BusinessEurope family has lost a great European and a real friend, and will hold Jürgen Thumann in grateful memory.
20/09/2022
Event
Discussing EU-China relations
15/09/2022
News
On a mission to Prague
15/09/2022
Video messages
EU-China relations: Engaging with a systemic rival
09/09/2022
Press releases
Addressing skyrocketing energy prices a matter of survival for companies & households
29/08/2022
Facts and figures
Single Market barriers: updated examples
18/08/2022
News
BusinessEurope is mourning the passing of its former President Jürgen Thumann
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