EU Council: Strengthening EU’s economy to play a stronger role in the world
Today’s challenging geopolitical environment calls for action and decisive EU leadership. To mitigate geopolitical risks, it is key to build a more resilient economy. The European Council on 14-15 December will be an opportunity to make important decisions and shape a stronger EU as a true geopolitical player. Providing new trade and investment opportunities for European companies in the single market and around the world, is key to build a more resilient economy and to mitigate geopolitical risks. The EU leaders will gather in Brussels to discuss EU enlargement policy. BusinessEurope agrees that accession should be a merit-based process, with strict conditionality. We are also convinced that accession requires the ownership of both candidate countries and the EU.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, we hope that the EU’s Facility on Ukraine, pledging 50 billion euros, will be approved soon. European businesses are committed to contribute to Ukraine’s reconstruction and we hope that the Facility will offer more clarity and guarantees on how they can engage further. In addition, we believe the EU and Türkiye should work towards a closer and more stable relationship while addressing existing problems. Our prime concern is that the EU-Türkiye Customs Union Agreement is no longer fit for the 21st century economy and should be urgently modernised.