European Council 25-26 March: Businesses also need a shot in the arm!

Prior to his participation in the Tripartite Social Summit on 24 March and in the run-up to the online European Council starting the following day, EUROCHAMBRES President Christoph Leitl has called on EU leaders to give Europe’s struggling business community cause for optimism.

“The rollout of the vaccination programme is of course critical for our citizens’ well-being, but it also crucial to getting the economy back on track. Our businesses need a shot in the arm too!”, said President Leitl.

The pandemic has deprived businesses across Europe of many factors that are essential to their ability to compete. After over a year of extreme restrictions to both supply and demand across much of the economy, the European network of chambers of commerce and industry underlines the need to restore the single market and to reassure businesses that the EU’s ambitious policy agenda will help rather than hinder their recovery.

EUROCHAMBRES and the chamber network continue to push for national Recovery and Resilience Plans that will have a swift and positive impact on the business community, especially small & medium sized enterprises (SMEs). President Leitl will underline this point to the Tripartite Social Summit on Wednesday and stress also that this huge financial stimulus package must not be undermined by impractical or disproportionate new requirements. “Millions of businesses across Europe are dealing with the toughest conditions for a generation. The EU must recognise this and ensure that proposals for the green transition and other important policy objectives carefully factor in the needs of entrepreneurs. Otherwise, the ambitious targets will not be met, and the economic recovery will be weakened”, explained President Leitl.

The single market, for so long the basis for Europe’s prosperity and unity, has come under considerable pressure over the last twelve months and this too must be addressed if the recovery process is to gain momentum: “We need to restore the single market to full working order, and I am confident that this will happen as the vaccination programme gains momentum. But we must not stop there: the crisis has shown us how important the single market is for Europe on many levels, so I urge EU leaders to use that as a basis to tackle remaining barriers,” added President Leitl.