By the EESC Employers' Group
The Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee has launched its policy priorities for 2023 and beyond. In a paper titled "Driving Prosperity for All: A Competitiveness Agenda for the EU", the group outlined a number of actions needed to restore business confidence and prosperity for all.
"Businesses deliver common good day in, day out. They are an integral part of society and play a pivotal role in creating jobs, providing sustainable goods and services that improve people's quality of life, even in times of crisis," said Stefano Mallia, President of the Employers' Group. "But in order to make sure that businesses continue to make a difference we need an EU competitiveness agenda".
The Group's document outlines a new economic and industrial path that would apply to all businesses (industry, services and agriculture). Based on two pillars, creating common good and focusing on the essentials, the Employers' Group priorities call for three areas of action.
First, access to basic production resources at competitive prices. This applies equally to energy, raw materials, labour, capital, and data. That means improving conditions for energy and raw materials' domestic production and for building resilient ecosystems and diversifying foreign suppliers, but also ensuring the availability of an adequate skilled workforce by facilitating mobility and economic migration, as well as setting up effective life-long learning systems anticipating change.
Second, we must enhance open markets with equal rules. Building on the benefits and progress made over the past 30 years of the single market, the EU must persistently and decisively identify and systematically remove market barriers, while avoiding the creation of new ones. Member States must adhere to common rules and avoid gold-plating and new national regulations that are at odds with EU rules, helping avoid market fragmentation and loss of economies of scale.
Third, we must ensure business-friendly regulation and taxation. Businesses need a policy framework that fosters entrepreneurship and encourages enterprises to innovate, invest and trade. This requirement applies equally to regulation, taxation, and allocation of public funding. Embedding a "competitiveness check", which we employers have called for for the past two years, is part of the solution. But also accelerating permit procedures would prevent relocation and speed up the deployment of competitiveness.
To read and download the full paper, please click here.
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