Brussels, 30/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - New Unice president, Ernest-Antoine Seillière, EO of Wendel Investment and current President of the Medef (the French employers organisation) takes over from Jürgen Strube whose two year mandate at the head of Unice (European employers organisation) comes to an end.
The vice president of the European Commission Günther Verheugen explained, “I was born in 1939, as was president Strube. We've known war and its consequences. This enables us to appreciate 60 years of peace, security and prosperity in Europe since the end of the war”. He also thanked Strube for having placed the competitiveness of the European economy at the heart of its activities. In his contributions, Strube, who is also president of the BASF monitoring council, pointed out the events that had marked his presidency of Unice: EU enlargement; new Commission; mid term review of the Lisbon strategy for grown and employment but also the intensification of competition from China and India. By making the competitiveness of the European economy his priority, Jürgen Strube declared that, “I trust that every effort will be made to ensure that a strategy in Europe to secure growth and jobs is seen as an opportunity in the current debate on the future of Europe”.
Presenting his priorities for his presidency, Ernest-Antoine Seillière declared that “Innovation is the motor of development and progress, and it is therefore essential to put into place policies which stimulate innovation”: 1) placing enterprise, the creator of wealth, at the centre of the debate on the future of Europe; 2) taking on an active role in social dialogue for finding solution for social progress in Europe; 3) making innovation the motor of development and progress; 4) communicating the need for competitiveness and its positive implications for growth and jobs. Seillière concluded that, “For the business community the constitutional treaty remains a good response for European integration and its governance. It is crucial to explain to European citizens the benefits of reforms which are indispensable in order to sustain economic and social progress across Europe. European entrepreneurs place emphasis on the Growth and Jobs Strategy and will continue to communicate this clearly. This has to be implemented now on the European and the national level - the national action plans to be presented this summer must set out ambitious actions for economic reform. We count on the upcoming UK presidency that they will strongly push in that direction. If not, the lack of confidence of businesses throughout the EU will be even greater”.