The Confederation of European Business, shortened as BusinessEurope, is a lobby group representing enterprises of all sizes in the European Union (EU) and seven non-EU European countries. It represents 42 national business federations and employers' organizations. The current president of the confederation is Fredrik Persson, while the Director General is Markus J. Beyrer.

Based in Brussels and registered in Belgium as an Association internationale sans but lucratif, the confederation is officially recognised as a social partner at European level and 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 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 36 European countries.

History

The association was founded in 1958, first called UNICE (Union des Industries de la Communauté Européenne) and later changed its name to BusinessEurope in January 2007 during the presidency of Ernest-Antoine Seillière. In 2014, Unilever terminated its membership of BusinessEurope's Advisory and Support Group because it opposed the organisation's stance on carbon dioxide emissions.

Leadership

The association is led by a president, which has been held by the following persons:

  • 1958–1961 Léon Bekaert
  • 1961–1962 Georges Villiers
  • 1962–1967 H. J. de Koster
  • 1967–1971 Fritz Berg
  • 1971–1975
  • 1975–1980
  • 1981–1983 Guido Carli
  • 1984–1986 Raymond Pennock
  • 1986–1990
  • 1990–1994
  • 1994–1998 François Perigot
  • 1998–2003 Georges Jacobs
  • 2003–2005 Jürgen Strube
  • 2005–2009 Ernest-Antoine Seillière
  • 2009–2013
  • 2013–2018 Emma Marcegaglia
  • 2018–2022 Pierre Gattaz
  • Since July 2022: Fredrik Persson.

BusinessEurope is administered by a director general. Markus J. Beyrer has held that position since 2013.

Activities

The Confederation of European Business organises the biannual BusinessEurope Day in Brussels.

Member organisations

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Country

! Organisation(s)

|-

| || Federation of Austrian Industries

|-

| || Federation of Belgian Enterprises

|-

| || Bulgarian Industrial Association – Union of the Bulgarian Business

|-

| || Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB)

|-

| || Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic

|-

| rowspan="2" |

| Federation of German Industries

|-

| Confederation of German Employers' Associations

|-

| rowspan="2" |

| Confederation of Danish Industries

|-

| Confederation of Danish Employers

|-

| || Estonian Employers' Confederation

|-

| || Confederation of Finnish Industries

|-

| || Mouvement des Entreprises de France

|-

| || Hellenic Federation of Enterprises

|-

| || Hrvatska Udruga Poslodavaca

|-

| || Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists

|-

| || Irish Business and Employers Confederation

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| rowspan="2" |

| The Federation of Icelandic Industries

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| Confederation of Icelandic Employers

|-

| || General Confederation of Italian Industry

|-

| || Lietuvos pramonininku konfederacija

|-

| || Business Federation Luxembourg

|-

| || Employers' Confederation of Latvia

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| || Montenegrin Employers Federation

|-

| || The Malta Chamber of Commerce Enterprise

|-

| || Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| || Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise

|-

| || Polish Confederation Lewiatan

|-

|

| Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa

|-

| || Concordia

|-

| || Unija poslodavaca Srbije

|-

| || Association of Employers of Slovenia

|-

| || National Union of Employers (Slovakia)

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| || Associazione Nazionale dell'Industria Sammarinese

|-

| || Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations

|-

| || Confederation of Swedish Enterprise

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| rowspan="2" |

| Économiesuisse

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| Schweizerischer Arbeitgeberverband

|-

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| rowspan="2" |

| Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD)

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations

|-

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| rowspan="2" |

| Federation of Employers of Ukraine

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs

|-

|- style="background:#FFE6F2"

| || Confederation of British Industry

|}

See also

  • European Business Summit
  • EuropeanIssuers
  • European Trade Union Confederation

References

Sources

  • European Social Partners as recognised by the Treaty of Lisbon
  • European Transparency Register
  • RFI 20 May 2011
  • Europolitique 21 January 2011