With seven months to go before the European elections, BusinessEurope has warned that the European Union is “losing competitiveness” and urged the European Commission to take “the necessary measures” to remedy the situation, in a report published on Wednesday 8 November.
“Between 2019 and 2021, foreign direct investment has decreased by two thirds in the EU while it has increased by two thirds in the US States”, notes the document.
“Europe’s declining attractiveness for investment needs to be addressed”, says BusinessEurope, which develops four key points that MEPs and the Commission will have to address during the 2024-2029 European legislative cycle: - strengthening the European economy and its attractiveness; - the green and digital transitions; - reform of the single market, to maximise its potential while preserving its major freedoms; - repayment of public debt through economic growth.
BusinessEurope stresses the importance for the EU to conclude new trade agreements, in line with the Commission’s ambitions (see EUROPE 13276/3). The report also sets out the need to “revitalise” the single market and national implementation of internal market rules, and to reduce skills shortages.
Finally, BusinessEurope is most adamant about urging the EU to speed up reforms to reduce regulatory burdens. “The work announced to reduce reporting requirements for companies by 25% is a good first step [see EUROPE 13257/3, 13248/21], but the European Union will need to go way beyond that [...] It will also need to stop proposing unnecessary revisions of existing EU rules and to fully apply competitiveness checks and impact assessments on all new EU regulatory initiatives”, says the organisation.
To see the report, go to https://aeur.eu/f/9gk (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)