BusinessEurope, which represents employers at the European level, issued a statement on Thursday 2 June to the Czech Presidency of the EU Council in which it makes recommendations for dealing with the consequences of the war in Ukraine and, in so doing, for adapting European policies in the medium and long term in general.
The paper was published ahead of a meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in preparation for the forthcoming Presidency. In particular, the organisation calls for well-targeted sanctions that safeguard the European economy. It also calls for guidelines in the implementation of sanctions. It stresses the need to review the energy strategy and to remove the remaining barriers in the European energy market.
Furthermore, BusinessEurope believes that the EU needs to relaunch its industrial strategy, focusing on the issue of defence and possible synergies between the public and private sectors. The organisation insists on an ambitious international partnership strategy with like-minded states. It calls for the rapid ratification of the agreement with Mercosur, but also for the deepening of trade relations with the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the same spirit, BusinessEurope calls for increased cooperation with these same states in the field of cyber security.
The answer to inflation should not be wage increases - this strategy fuels inflation, according to the organisation - but should be the implementation of a “pro-growth” and “pro-competitiveness” strategy.
The organisation expects the Czech Presidency to do its utmost to remove barriers to the proper functioning of the single market. For the employers’ organisation, the focus should also be on the issue of regulatory restraint and quality and the simplification of procedures, again with a view to supporting European competitiveness. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)