Welcome by Tomas Pirkl

When I came to Brussels in 2007 as a journalist, I could not really imagine that I would „survive“ in the capital of the EU bureaucracy for more than three years.

As a foreign correspondent, I was covering all the developments in the EU institutions and their (sometimes fuzzy and peculiar) decisions. Nevertheless, after some time, Brussels and EU got me, the same way as many others before, and I felt the needed to look at EU affairs from more in-depth and started to see things from other sides. Therefore, it was a great pleasure for me to accept the offer to work for the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, representing a predominant part of the Czech industry.

Since May I have been working as its Permanent Delegate to BUSINESSEUROPE, the main employers’ organization at EU level representing more than 20 million companies from 35 countries in Europe. I have been trying to do my best in defending the interests of our Confederation and its members not only within BUSINESSEUROPE but also vis-à-vis European institutions and other stakeholders and partners in Brussels.

Yours faithfully

Tomáš Pirkl
Permanent Delegate to BUSINESSEUROPE