Czech Business Today

On the 16^th of September, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen gave her annual State of the Union speech in front of Members of the European Parliament, in which she presented her vision of the patch the EU should take in the future.

Von der Leyen addressed a number of areas, promising, for example, that the Commission would propose a legal framework for the introduction of a minimum wage at European level, update the industrial strategy, including the competition framework, and present initiatives to promote and deepen EU single market and as well as social aspects of the EU. She also paid close attention to environmental aspects and the flagship Green Deal for Europe as she mentioned that the Commission will propose to increase the 2030 targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 55% compared to the originally indicated 40%. In the area of digital policy, von der Leyen called for a plan with binding targets for 2030, whether in terms of connectivity, skills or the digitization of public services.

For EU business community, the State of the Union was a highly awaited event as it would show the way EU policies should evolve in the coming years and, of course, with a significant impact on EU companies. EU business organizations agree that companies shouldn’t be burdened with additional costs and red tape and any new legislation or policy measures must take this into consideration.

The two major EU business organization, BusinessEurope and EUROCHAMBRES agree that the Commission must make every euro from the recovery package and the next Multiannual Financial Framework count. Proposals must be turned into effective programmes as soon as possible in order to give European companies the boost they need to recover. Furthermore, both organizations agree that the key to a successful recovery is the EU single market. Companies of all sizes would benefit hugely from removing the barriers and enabling the full functionality of the market.

The digital transformation will be another factor that will influence the pace and speed of the recovery. Therefore, business organizations support the idea of preparing suitable conditions for deployment of new technologies, especially the 5G and artificial intelligence. Last but not least, international trade should be another factor that helps EU get back on the growth track. Therefore, the EU should aim to set the pre-COVID export conditions back as soon as possible and continue to strive for more ambitious free trade and investment agreements.