We presented our priorities to Business Europe’s leaders

On December 6 - 7, Markus J. Beyrer, CEO of BusinessEurope, and his deputy, Thérèse de Liedekerke, visited Prague at the invitation of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (SP CR). They met with members and experts of the SP CR and representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Office of the Government. We have presented the priorities for the upcoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU to our guests and discussed European agendas related to business.

We decided to invite the leaders of BusinessEurope, the key organization that brings together business associations and represents entrepreneurs at the EU level, as guests of our regular SPCR expert team for EU affairs. During the meeting with SP CR leaders and experts and the following day with representatives of major member companies as well, we presented our priorities for the upcoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU and discussed other European agenda.

The meeting program included labor market issues (European minimum wage, platform staff, and transparent remuneration directive), Green Deal, Fit for 55 and the National Recovery Plan, the digital agenda (Digital Services Act, technological sovereignty), international issues (relations with Britain, USA, China, WTO) and in general strengthening our cooperation with BusinessEurope.

Some of these topics we also discussed during a meeting with the Deputies of Minister of Industry and Trade Ms. Martina Tauberová and Ms.  Silvana Jirotková and with the State Secretary of the Government Office Ms. Milena Hrdinková and the Director of the Department for the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU Alice Krutilová.

During the discussions, the union emphasized key topics for Czech companies - strengthening the internal market, open trade policy, digitization and a realistic approach to climate policy. Markus Beyrer confirmed that BusinessEurope supports the position of the Confederation of Industry in most areas discussed.

"The Czech Republic must use the forthcoming presidency, among other things, to clearly formulate its positions, seek support for them across the EU and with the help of opinion partners, find compromises acceptable to the entire EU bloc. We can inspire ourselves by the views of BusinessEurope on a number of topics, which are reflecting often-diverse views of all its 40 members. It is a key organization for us and regularly takes many of our inputs into account in its positions,” adds Lukáš Martin, Director of the International Relations Section of the SP CR.