Confederation’s member companies support the TTIP

A conference „10 years of Czech EU membership“ organized by the Confederation of Industry within the International Engineering Fair in Brno on Tuesday 30^th September became a discussion forum on the EU membership advantages and obstacles to the functioning of the EU. Both phenomena have been mentioned in his discussion paper by the Confederation’s Brussels representative Tomáš Pirkl.

„In the past, we have often witnessed the steps approved by the EU where there had not been developed a qualified evaluation of their impact,“ Pirkl said.

He pointed out the problems the EU meets in the global competition. „The overall taxation in relation to the GDP is in the EU by 50 percent higher than in the US and by 30 percent higher than in Japan,“ he stressed. „The energy prices are more than twice as high as in the US and Russia and by a fifth higher than in China.“

As a Confederation’s survey shows, the EU membership represents for three quarters of Czech companies a benefit. About one sixth of the member firms don’t perceive any advantage in relation to the EU membership.

Another discussion topic at the conference was the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US prepared by both sides.

„The TTIP is a historic opportunity,“ Pavel Fára, Confederation‘s External Relationship Section representative said. „We have not met a Confederation’s member company that would be against the TTIP.“