The Confederation of European Business, shortened BusinessEurope, is a
lobby
Lobby may refer to:
* Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building
* Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians
:* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States
* Lobby (food), a thick stew ...
group representing enterprises of all sizes in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
(EU) and seven non-EU European countries. Members of the confederation are 40 national industry and
employers' organizations
An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutual ...
. The current president of the confederation is Fredrik Persson, while the Director General is
Markus J. Beyrer.
Based in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, the confederation is officially recognised as a social partner at
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an level, is involved in a range of economic and social decisions and cooperates with a number of stakeholders and business partners. It promotes the interests of corporate citizens to ensure that
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
supports the European economy. It is generally considered the strongest interest organisation in Brussels and represents 20 million companies through its member trade associations in 35 European countries.
History
In 2014,
Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...
terminated its membership in BusinessEurope's Advisory and Support Group because it opposed the organisation's stance on
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...
emissions.
Leadership
The association is led by a president, which has been held by the following persons:
* 1958–1961
Léon Bekaert
Léon Antoine Bekaert (Zwevegem, 9 December 1891 - Zwevegem, 19 December 1961) was a Belgian industrialist and politician. He was the son of Leo Leander Bekaert, who founded the family business in 1880.
He expanded the family venture ''Tréfiler ...
* 1961–1962
Georges Villiers
* 1962–1967
H. J. de Koster
* 1967–1971
Fritz Berg
Rudolf Fredrik Berg (31 May 1846 – 8 December 1907), also known as R.F. Berg and Fritz Berg, was a Swedish engineer, industrialist and politician. He also founded the Swedish construction and development company Skanska.
Career
Between 186 ...
* 1971–1975
* 1975–1980
* 1981–1983
Guido Carli
Guido Carli (28 March 1914 – 23 April 1993) was an Italian banker, economist and politician.
His father was the prominent fascist sociologist Filippo Carli.
Biography
He was the son of Filippo Carli (1876–1938), a university professor of ...
* 1984–1986
Raymond Pennock
* 1986–1990
* 1990–1994
* 1994–1998
François Perigot
* 1998–2003
Georges Jacobs
Georges, Count Jacobs de Hagen (born 1940) is a leading Belgian businessman.
Jacobs obtained a PhD degree in Law (1962) and a licentiate in economics (1964) from the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). He also obtained a MA degree in e ...
* 2003–2005
Jürgen Strube
* 2005–2009
Ernest-Antoine Seillière
Ernest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde (born 20 December 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French entrepreneur and the heir to the Wendel empire (representing €730 million).
He is a member of Le Siècle think tank, an officer of the ''Légion d'h ...
* 2009–2013
* 2013-2018
Emma Marcegaglia
Emma Marcegaglia (born 24 December 1965 in Mantua) is an Italian entrepreneur. She was president of Confindustria from 2008 to 2012, and president of the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli from 2010 to 2019. From 20 ...
* 2018-2022
Pierre Gattaz
Pierre Gattaz (born 11 September 1959 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France) is a French business executive. He serves as the Chairman of Radiall, an electronics manufacturer. In parallel with his activity as a company director, he holds various positi ...
* Since July 2022 Fredrik Persson
BusinessEurope is administrated by a director general. Markus J. Beyrer has been holding that position since 2013.
Activities
The Confederation of European Business organises the biannua
BusinessEurope Dayin Brussels.
Member organisations
See also
*
European Business Summit
European Business Summit (EBS) is an events and conference organiser, and the creator of one of the largest networking and debating events in Brussels – the annual European Business Summit.
Description
EBS was founded in 2000 by the FEB ( Feder ...
*
European Trade Union Confederation
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...
*
EuropeanIssuers
EuropeanIssuers is an association representing the interests of publicly quoted companies on European stock exchanges. Since 2008, its objective has been to ensure that European Union policy creates an environment in which companies can raise capi ...
References
Sources
European Social Partnersas recognised by the Treaty of Lisbon
RFI 20 May 2011
External links
Official website
Business organizations based in Europe
Employers' organizations
Industry in the European Union
Lobbying organizations in Europe
Lobbying in the European Union
Pan-European trade and professional organizations
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