European business leaders make an appeal before the summit: “Take action to help competitiveness”

Business leaders wrote a letter to EU Council members to ask for help in reducing burdensome EU rules that stifle growth: “Enough with excessive and unnecessary obstacles”

 Reduce the burdensome bureaucracy on European businesses, put competitiveness at the heart of EU policy making. These are the requests that businesses wanted to address to the members of the European Council on the eve of the Summit. In a letter signed by business leaders from all over Europe, among which the Italian Luca Cordero of Montezemolo, Emma Marcegaglia, the President of Business Europe, and Vittorio Colao of Vodafone, they remind them that for businesses “one of the biggest obstacles is the poorly understood and problematic European regulations, which too often block businesses. And this has the biggest impact on small businesses which can create 80% of new jobs in Europe.

In the global market, business leaders ask, the EU should undertake action to make companies more competitive, instead of “making excessive and unnecessary obstacles.” In this regard please note the recent report made by a task force of businesses in the United Kingdom, according to whom the burdensome EU regulations stifle growth of small businesses. The report, presented a few days ago by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, also suggests a series of concrete actions that the EU should undertake to remove these unnecessary obstacles: “Proposals that could save billions, releasing potential for innovation, growth and creation of jobs,” emphasizing that businesses invite members of the Council to take into consideration.

The EU is taking a few steps in the right direction, the business leaders admit, recalling the recent communique from the European Commission which lists, sector by sector, the areas in which action is needed to simplify European legislation and ease the burden on businesses. But it is still not enough. “If we truly want a business-driven recovery, we must go beyond – the letter asks – ensuring that these commitments now be transformed into actions.”

“We are now calling on you – is the appeal of EU business leaders in view of the summit – to demonstrate leadership by making a strong commitment at this week’s European Council to identify where the burden of regulation can be reduced to allow businesses to generate the growth that will benefit us all.

Letizia Pascale