Confederation of European Business
The Confederation of European Business, shortened BusinessEurope, is a lobby group representing enterprises of all sizes in the European Union and seven non-EU European countries. Members of the confederation are 40 national industry and employers' organizations. The current president of the confederation is Pierre Gattaz, while the Director General is Markus J. Beyrer.
Based in Brussels, the confederation is officially recognised as a social partner at European 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 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 terminated its membership in 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. In the past, the following persons used to hold this office:- 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
- 1998–2003 Georges Jacobs
- 2003–2005 Jürgen Strube
- 2005–2009 Ernest-Antoine Seillière
- 2009–2013
- 2013-2018
- Since July 2018 Pierre Gattaz
Activities
The Confederation of European Business organises the annual and European Business Summit in Brussels.Member organisations
| Country | Organisation |
| Federation of Austrian Industries | |
| Federation of Belgian Enterprises | |
| Bulgarian Industrial Association – Union of the Bulgarian Business | |
| Économiesuisse | |
| Schweizerischer Arbeitgeberverband | |
| Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation | |
| Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic | |
| Federation of German Industries | |
| Confederation of German Employers' Associations | |
| Confederation of Danish Industries | |
| Confederation of Danish Employers | |
| Estonian Employers' Confederation | |
| Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations | |
| 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 | |
| The Federation of Icelandic Industries | |
| Confederation of Icelandic Employers | |
| General Confederation of Italian Industry | |
| Lietuvos pramonininku konfederacija | |
| Business Federation Luxembourg | |
| Employers' Confederation of Latvia | |
| Montenegrin Employers Federation | |
| The Malta Chamber of Commerce Enterprise | |
| Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers | |
| Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise | |
| Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa | |
| Concordia | |
| Unija poslodavaca Srbije | |
| Association of Employers of Slovenia | |
| National Union of Employers | |
| Associazione Nazionale dell'Industria Sammarinese | |
| Confederation of Swedish Enterprise | |
| Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association | |
| Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations | |
| Confederation of British Industry |