Brussels, 30/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European employers, under the banner of Business Europe, have made Jean-Claude Juncker ten recommendations for a successful term in office, with the focus on competitiveness in order to reabsorb unemployment, with the Luxembourger about to take the tiller of the European Commission.
From the outset, competitiveness should be central to the new proposals of the European Commission, which should entirely defend the objective laid down of re-industrialising Europe, so that 20% of GDP is generated by industry by the end of the decade.
Business Europe advises Juncker to implement the promised investment plan, but also to ensure better access to funding and an improved banking union. The legislative package for energy and the climate for 2030, which he is to present following the agreement of the European Council (EUROPE 11184), should be sufficiently flexible (in line with the results of the COP 2015 conference in Paris), and include a reform of the emissions credit trading system after 2020, in order to kill off “carbon leaks”.
As regards trade, Juncker should also ensure that the free-trade agreement with the United States (TTIP) is an ambitious one, whilst protecting investments. A 'better legislation' agenda is also immediately awaited, in order to improve impact assessments and take better account of the cumulative effect of legislation. Among the other recommendations made by the employers are the need to carry out a revision of the strategy 'EUROPE 2020' (fill in the details for 'post-2020'), to strike a balance between the protection of privacy and data flow when defining a strategy for the digital market, and to work towards consensus on a European framework for reforms of the employment market.
The tone has been set for the responsibilities which await José Manuel Barroso's successor and his team. (MD)