Press releases
Energy
Addressing skyrocketing energy prices is a matter of survival for European companies and households
9 September 2022 - Today, the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU will hold an extraordinary meeting of the Energy Ministers to discuss emergency measures to mitigate the extremely high energy p...
Energy
Business calls on market-driven winter preparedness
Forced curtailments should only be considered as an option of very last resort
20 July 2022 - Today, the European Commission presented a package of measures aiming to prepare Europe for potential fut...
Bilateral relations
BusinessEurope paper: EU-China: Engaging with a systemic rival
19 July 2022 - Today, BusinessEurope published its new paper on “EU-China relations – Engaging with a systemic rival” coinciding with the EU-China High-Level Economic Dialogue. The paper, which...
Economy and finance
Improving business environment is crucial to face rising costs and falling growth
BusinessEurope today published its Summer 2022 Economic Outlook
7 July 2022 - Today, BusinessEurope published its Summer 2022 Economic Outlook, forecasting the EU economy to grow by 2.6% between 2021...
Digital economy
Business supports EU’s green light for competitive and safer digital sector
European Parliament’s final vote on DMA and DSA is a bold positive step
5 July 2022 - Today the European Parliament made its final vote on the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. Whil...
Trade
Important step forward: EU agreement against distortive foreign subsidies
30 June 2022 - The European institutions have reached a compromise on the proposed foreign subsidies instrument. BusinessEurope welcomes the agreement and hopes for an efficient and effective implemen...
Bilateral relations
EU-New Zealand agreement: welcome restart of an ambitious bilateral trade agenda
EU-New Zealand agreement: welcome restart of an ambitious bilateral trade agenda
30 June 2022 - Today, Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and New Zealand Trade Ministe...
EU social dialogue
European Unions and Employers sign historic deal
27 June 2022 - European trade unions and employers will tomorrow sign a work programme, including to negotiate a legally binding agreement on ‘Telework and right to disconnect’.
ETUC, Busin...
Multilateral / WTO
WTO Ministerial – the agreement keeps alive the multilateral trading system
17 June 2022 - The WTO-World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting MC12 ended after 5 days of intense negotiations with an agreement that allows to keep the multilateral trading system alive. Al...
Industrial relations and EU labour law
EU minimum wage rules must not undermine social partners’ competences
16 June 2022 - Today, the Employment and Social Affairs Council (EPSCO) meets in Luxembourg, days after a trilogue agreement on a directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union was reached....
Fredrik Persson to succeed Pierre Gattaz as President of BusinessEurope
3 June 2022 - During its meeting in Prague today, the Council of Presidents of BusinessEurope unanimously elected Mr Fredrik Persson, who was until recently President of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt N...
Climate change
ENVI vote on ETS and CBAM risks seriously undermining European competitiveness
Today, the European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) voted on the reports for the reform of the Emission Trading Scheme and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, two of the most important...
Governance
CoFoE: Europe’s future will be built on its economic strength
European business engagement in the Conference on the Future of Europe
On Monday 9 May, Schuman Day, the Conference on the Future of Europe will officially close with a hand-over ceremony of 49 propo...
Energy and environment
IED revision will unnecessarily make industrial operations more complex
Today, the European Commission proposed to revise the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). This directive is one of the main instruments to regulate industrial activities and related emissions from a...
Bilateral relations
EU-China summit: key to resume dialogue and resolve problems
Tomorrow, the 23rd EU-China Summit will take place with the participation on the EU side of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel, and on the Chinese...
Circular economy
EU Commission’s Sustainable Product Initiative is an opportunity for more circularity
Today, the European Commission presented its Sustainable Product Initiative (SPI). It broadens the scope of the eco-design directive, introduces circularity criteria and proposes rules for sustainabil...
Digital economy
EU makes a bold step towards fair competition in the digital sector
Yesterday, a political deal at EU level on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to harmonise rules to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector has been found among the co-legislators. The Re...
Market access
International procurement: business welcomes long-awaited instrument
After ten long years of discussions, yesterday the EU institutions finally agreed on the International Procurement Instrument (IPI).
Commenting on the breakthrough BusinessEurope’s Director General...
Corporate and legal
EU companies need workable rules on corporate due diligence
Today, the European Commission presented its proposal on sustainable corporate due diligence. It will impose new obligations on companies and on how they monitor and operate in their supply chains, al...
Digital economy
Data Act: EU data sharing framework should foster investment
Today, the European Commission presented its proposal for a Data Act. It is part of the EU Data Strategy presented in February 2020 to unlock the potential of non-personal, business data. The aim is t...
EU single market
Ability to lead on global standards crucial for EU’s competitiveness
Today, the European Commission presented its standardisation strategy. It rightly stresses the importance of standardisation for our global competitiveness and supports policies aimed at better antici...
Economy and finance
EU own resources plans must not add burden on business
Today, the European Commission presented its communication on own resources and directives on a minimum corporate tax and fighting shell entities.
BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer sai...
Labour markets and social policy
EU Commission proposal ignores the diversity of platform work
(9 December 2021) - Today the European Commission published its proposal for an EU law on platform work. Within this the Commission is proposing a rebuttable presumption of employment. This does not r...
Industrial relations and EU labour law
EU’s social policy should not interfere with Member States’ competences
Today the Council published its general approach on the European Commission’s proposals for directives on minimum wages and on pay transparency. BusinessEurope did not support the two directive prop...