Business leaders and entrepreneurs across Northern Europe add weight to EU reform agenda

When a group of business people who, amongst them, have helped to lead companies that employ around one million people, say something, it's a good idea to listen.

In an unprecedented joint initiative, leading business men and women from across Northern Europe used a letter to the Sunday Times and op-ed articles published in today's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Dagens Industri to call on EU leaders to grasp the nettle and embrace reform.

The list of signatories, who have all signed in a personal capacity, includes household names and is particularly significant because many have not spoken out on the issue of 'Europe' before. They include Karl-Johan Persson, the CEO of Swedish retail giant H&M, Dr. h.c. August Oetker, Chairman of renowned German food producer, Dr. Oetker, Douglas Flint CBE, Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings, Joanna Shields, Chief Executive of Tech City, and Sir John Peace, Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank.

The business leaders and entrepreneurs who have signed up to this initiative come from businesses in different sectors of the economy and, uniquely, this initiative, coordinated by Open Europe, cuts across borders.

As you can see below, this has already caused quite a splash in Sweden, with the front page of the financial daily Dagens Industri carrying the headline "Come on, EU!":

In Germany, six business men and women including Dr h.c. August Oetker, Chairman of the Oetker Group – one of Europe’s largest family-owned businesses – and Marie-Christine Ostermann, former head of the German Association of Young Entrepreneurs, wrote an article arguing that, "The EU does not have to move towards 'ever closer union,' but needs to become ever more open and flexible":

In a letter to the Sunday Times, 52 British executives and entrepreneurs demand a “bold reform agenda” focused on trade and transparency:

This joint initiative shows that there is a market across much of Europe for an EU reform agenda centred on making the EU more business-friendly, internationally competitive and democratically accountable. However, the only way to do that is to make the arguments heard across Europe and put so much pressure on politicians that it cannot be ignored.

This is the first step in pushing a robust reform agenda ahead of the European elections next year and beyond, and we will be encouraging plenty more entrepreneurs across Europe to sign up to this initiative. So watch this space!

UK-German push for EU reform gathers pace as German SMEs call for return of powers from Brussels

Today's FAZ reports on a letter to German MPs from the German Association of Family Businesses (Die Familienunternehmer) which calls for “a fundamental re-calibration of the EU Treaties”. Crucially, this would entail a correction of the distribution of competencies, which in plain English (and German) would mean the possibility of some powers flowing back to member states from Brussels. The letter argues:

“A key element for the sustainable improvement of the situation [in the EU] is the principle of liability. The future of Europe cannot be jeopardised through the progressive pooling of debts with foreseeable cuts to the German budget or the disempowerment of national parliaments in favour of centralisation in Brussels.”

Given the economic and cultural importance of family run businesses/SMEs - the organisation's website notes that there are 180,000 such businesses in Germany employing around 8 million people - this is an important development and the first time a German business group has made such a demand. While it is important not to get carried away - some of the Association's previous calls, such as pushing for MPs to vote down the ESM, fell on deaf ears - it comes at a time when the concept of adjusting the balance of powers between the EU and member states is slowly gaining traction in Germany. Not that long ago the mere suggestion would have been shot down instantly, now even Chancellor Merkel has hinted that it could be a possibility.

As our recent joint opinion poll with Open Europe Berlin demonstrated, there is substantial support among the German public for the return of certain powers.

Source: YouGov Deutschland for Open Europe and Open Europe Berlin

Of course for Germany to support such transfers they must apply to the EU as a whole, which is why British proposals to give national parliaments a greater role in the EU policy-making process could gain support in Berlin, as could proposals to streamline EU legislation. The Sunday Telegraph recently reported that the UK’s CBI is working closely with its German counterpart, the BDI, in order to push through business friendly reforms in the EU which could include the repeal of some EU social and employment laws as well further liberalisation in areas including telecommunications and services.

The momentum for EU reform is definitely growing, and in an encouraging sign of UK-German co-operation (which we advocated before it became fashionable), Conservative MP Alok Sharma and German CDU MP Ralph Brinkhaus argue in a joint piece on the Spectator’s Coffee House blog that “There’s a historic opportunity for Britain and Germany to lead the work of improving the structures of the European Union, together with other like-minded countries. There are areas of common ground for discussion on budget discipline, free trade and efficiency in the public sector to name but a few."

We couldn't agree more.