The EU economy is picking up strongly, but the path back towards a full recovery after the COVID19-induced recession will be long and fraught with downside risks, including from inflationary pressures and the spread of new more transmissible virus variants. Our Summer 2021 Economic Outlook published on 12 July notes that EU exports have bounced back strongly with our larger trading partners recuperating faster than Europe, and the roll-out of vaccines has recently allowed EU governments to begin reopening our economies, meaning we can finally begin to see a way forward back towards pre-crisis levels of economic activity. Reflecting these developments, BusinessEurope forecasts economic growth in the EU27 of 4.4% this year, followed by 4.6% next year. It is essential to avoid any premature unwinding of supportive measures to businesses and workers at this juncture. In the medium term, EU Member States must return to fiscally sustainable positions, reflecting the situation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. - Read more
Reacting to the publication of the Fit-for-55 package by the European Commission, BusinessEurope President Pierre Gattaz commented: "European industry supports the European Union's climate ambition. It is ready to take its share of responsibility and has a lot of technological solutions and breakthrough innovations to provide. Today, we are starting a new phase. The direction set by the Fit-for-55 package is the right one and the legislative tools presented today help to pave the way to achieve the EU’s decarbonisation goal. This clarity is important to investment decisions by industry. While the overall direction is right, the devil is in the details with lots of extremely important details in finding the right balance between climate ambition and economic and technological challenges." - Read more or watch our video message
Business is in favour of actions to support and encourage companies in the transition towards more sustainability. However, at the end of the road, it is essential that all these initiatives (from taxonomy to corporate governance) fit together, do not overlap, take account of the needs of the real economy and do not place European companies under unsustainable expectations and obligations. On due diligence, the aim should be for a framework that is proportionate and workable; that will not simply force companies from disengaging from other markets. The future corporate governance rules should not harm companies’ ability to do business effectively nor weaken current corporate governance models by blurring directors’ duties. These messages were voiced by the President of BusinessEurope Pierre Gattaz during an exchange between European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders and several Presidents and Directors General of BusinessEurope member federations.
Slovenia takes over the Presidency of the European Council at a crucial moment for the recovery of the European Union from the COVID crisis. For BusinessEurope, all decisions to be taken during the next 6 months must contribute to strengthening this recovery since it is the basis to invest in the protection of people and the planet. BusinessEurope looks forward to working constructively on the 4 priorities chosen by Slovenia for its presidency: 1. facilitating the EU's recovery and reinforcing its resilience; 2. reflecting on the future of Europe; 3. strengthening the rule of law and European values; 4. increasing security and stability in the European neighbourhood. Watch the video message from our Director General, Markus J. Beyrer, or read our letter
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.
In this year's edition of its Reform Barometer, given the exception year we have had, BusinessEurope analyses the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) submitted by EU Member States to the European Commission. EU leaders had agreed in July 2020 on the historic €750 billion NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, based on common borrowing, to ensure all Member States have the means to rebuild and restructure their economies after this unprecedented crisis. Most of our national business federations think the NRRPs will have some positive impact, but only 11% of them believe funds will sufficiently focus on boosting the recovery and help long-term growth and job creation. More than half of our member federations believe their country’s national recovery and resilience plans put insufficient focus on competitiveness, research, development and innovation. - Check it here, or watch our video teaser
30/07/2021
Reports and studies
EU recovery underway, but spread of new COVID variants remains clear risk
14/07/2021
Press releases
EU fit-for-55: direction is right, but the devil is in the details
08/07/2021
News
Business calling for the right balance on future corporate governance and due diligence rules
01/07/2021
Video messages
Business priorities for the Slovenian Presidency
19/06/2021
Speeches
Future of Europe
11/06/2021
Reports and studies
EU’s €750 billion recovery instrument needs stronger focus on investment and reform
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