Brussels, 06/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The second edition of the European Business Summit (EBS), in Brussels from 6 to 8 June, will bring together some 1,500 business and political leaders, as well as representatives of civil society and non-governmental organisations. Organised on the initiative of the Business Federation of Belgium (FEB) in collaboration with European employers (Unice), this second edition "of what is the most important dialogue between political and business decision-makers" -as FEB President, Tony Vandeputte - qualified it - will have as central subject "Business and sustainable development in an enlarged Europe". Some 150 speakers will set out the expectations of the world of business faced with the EU's impending enlargement and see how to reconcile that enlargement with the Lisbon brief, which is to make Europe the most competitiv0e, most innovative and most prosperous economy in the world.
As at the first session in June 2000 (see Europe of 14 June 2000), this session will have the backing of the European Commission with the participation of Commissioners David Byrne, Gunther Verheugen, Erkki Liikanen, Viviane Reding, Philippe Busquin, Mario Monti, Pascal Lamy and Anna Diamantopoulou. Also present, will be the President of the European Investment Bank, Philippe Maystadt, the Deputy Chair of the European Convention, Jean-Luc Dehaene, the President of the European Council, José Maria Aznar, and, for the first time, representatives of candidate countries, including Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and Polish President Aleksander Kwanieski.
Presenting this second EBS session to the press, its founder, Didier Malherbe stressed that the goal was to organise this type of summit every two years. He stipulated that since the first summit in June 2000, the candidate countries, European institutions and companies would also be represented in the "Networking Village", "a new concept, genuine platform for dialogue intended for informal meetings, presentations and round tables and press conferences". Work will be based on two reports on EU enlargement: the first drawn up by McKinsey on the economic consequences of EU enlargement , the second by Unice on "Ensuring EU enlargement is a success".
According to McKinsey consultants, Herman de Bode and Pedro de Boeck, EU enlargement means major changes for certain sectors of the world of business in terms of liberalisation and restructuring (it's the case for steel, transport, the pharmaceutical industry, postal services, telecommunications and energy), but not for others (like the retail sector, the automobile industry, banks, food and beverages). The McKinsey report shows, notably, that actors in sectors that must be liberalised must prepare for ever increasing competition, as well as regulatory pressures.
"Our message for the second European Business Summit will be strong: it's that Unice is an ardent defender of enlargement", declared Unice Secretary General Philippe de Buck van Overstraeten when presenting Unice's stance to the press. "Candidate countries and EU Member states alike will benefit from additional economic growth and greater social well-being, generated by an enlarged Internal Market, greater trade and an increase in foreign direct investments to candidate countries, thanks to an improved investment climate", he continued. To succeed in enlargement, Unice backs the approach based on differentiation. "Candidate countries should join the EU as soon as they are ready politically, economically and administratively. If, for the most advanced countries, delaying enlargement has a cost, one has not to precipitate membership of countries that are not fully prepared. The decisions on the degree of preparation of candidate countries must be assessed precisely, factually and transparently. So as to catch up on their current administrative and judicial shortcoming , candidates must step up reforms and take advantage of the additional action plan proposed by the Commission. Unice will study the follow-up and calls on candidate countries to make rapid progress", commented de Buck van Overstraeten, considering that "the European Council of Seville must set a firm deadline for completing institutional reforms" and that the next IGC on the next treaty review must begun in the second half of 2003.