European businesses expect tangible results from the Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the EU with a view to address their top priorities, simplification and competitiveness, the President of the BusinessEurope, Frederick Persson.
He was speaking in a video interview with the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), which can be viewed below, in English with Greek subtitles.
BusinessEurope last week met for a two-day session in Cyprus, ahead of the assumption of the EU Presidency from Nicosia on 1 January 2026, to discuss their top priorities. As Persson told CNA, BusinessEurope consists of 42 federations across 36 European nations, representing some 25 million businesses across Europe. “We are truly the voice of business and industry in Brussels,” he said, noting that their Cypriot member, Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB), constitutes a key voice in that aspect.
Asked regarding the most pressing issues businesses in Europe face today, he said that across Europe “the message is crystal clear, and if I could only use one word, it's regulation, regulation, regulation. We need to unleash the power of businesses across Europe”. He noted that 99% of their members are small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). “They're heavily burdened by an over-bureaucracy, so we need to unleash that power”, he said.
“The second word that would come at the top of mind, which is related to that, is competitiveness”, he highlighted, noting that the two are highly interlinked. “Those two words echo across all of Europe, regardless of if you are here in Nicosia, if you are in Helsinki, if you are in Lisbon, it's the same tune that the companies and businesses are singing”, he said.
Asked what Europe could do to address these challenges, he mentioned the Draghi and Letta reports, the first focusing on competitiveness and the second on Single Market.
“The starting point is that Europe has been falling behind. And that did not happen in the last 12 months. It did not happen with the last Commission. It's been happening for decades. So, if you compare the EU growth to the US growth, in the last three decades, the US has grown by more than 100%. The economy has doubled. At the same time, the EU has grown by a mere just above 60%. And that means less money for security, for welfare, and not the least for investments, and investments in research and innovation”, Frederick Persson said, adding that “if we don't invest for the future, Europe will be a worse place to live”.
“I normally say that if you want a bigger cake, you should talk to the baker. And here we represent the 25 million bakers across Europe, then you can always talk about the cutting of the cake, but it's always easier to talk about the cutting of the cake if you have a bigger cake”, he said.
The issue of simplifcation
Commenting on when and how the EU should address the issue of simplification, he said that the easy answer is that “it needs to happen now. It needs to happen faster”. He noted that there is always a difference between business and politicians. “By default, the political system needs to be a bit slower. And coming from business, we're always frustrated that you need to move faster. But of course, we need to respect the democratic processes we have, which is a pride of Europe. That said, there needs to be an urgency in Brussels”.
He went on to say that today European businesses are spending as much to adhere to the regulation as they're investing in innovation. “The compliance department, the one filling out the forms, is as big as the department filling out the patent applications and that cannot go on,” he underlined.
“We are not saying that we should have zero regulation. Of course, a sound and solid regulation is at the heart of any Union and any nation, but we just need less,” he said. He cited an example, noting that during the last Commission, over 13,000 legislative acts were approved. At the same time, on federal level in the US, it was 3,500. “I'm not saying it needs to be one-to-one, but just look at the numbers. This is not reasonable, and it's slowing down business, it's slowing down Europe, and it's not good for us that are living in Europe”, he stated.
Expectations from Cyprus' EU Council Presidency
Asked on what BusinessEurope expects from the upcoming Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the EU, Frederick Persson said that “we are expecting a lot. I often get the question ‘do the Presidencies of the EU really mean something?’, and I think that is a valid question we need to ask ourselves. And the follow-up question is always, ‘ssn't it only about the big countries?’. And the answer to that is, no and no. It's very much about where we are in time. And Europe is at a crossroads”, he underlined.
As he pointed out, the Commission has set a new narrative where they acknowledge, with Draghi and Letta reports, that we do have a competitiveness problem. “They've started to make the right decision, moving in the right direction, but our members and businesses across Europe do not feel it in the everyday business. And until it happens there, it has not happened at all”, he stressed.
This is where the Cyprus’ Presidency enters, he said, mentioning “omnibus”, which is an initiative to make it easier to run a business in Europe. “During the Cypriot Presidency, that needs to be put forward. So, it's not only a huge responsibility, it's a huge opportunity. So, the Presidency will be extremely important,” he noted.
Moreover, Persson said that there are also small initiatives, for which the Cyprus Presidency can play a crucial role, mentioning, as an example, the e-posting of workers. “It's super important, because if we are not able to travel and work across Europe, we will grow less,” he argued.
EU and US comparison
Comparing the EU with the US, he said that in the US 70% of the trade is done between the states. In Europe, “where we believe we have a Single Market, it's only 20%. So we do not trade with each other. We do not travel and work between countries,” he indicated, noting that if any country knows the importance of that, it's Cyprus. “You are traveling people. You go abroad to get educated. You do business abroad. So, I think to bring that understanding to the table as being a small country, but with high ambitions, I think it will benefit the EU in a very good way. I think it's the perfect time to have your Presidency. The expectations are high,” he said, asserting that it can have a very positive impact on Europe.
Asked whether it is realistic to expect tangible results until July, when the Cyprus Presidency ends, the President of BusinessEurope answered affirmatively. “We can take no more excuses from Brussels. Our support will be steadfast, and we will push for this, and we will be happy to work alongside the Presidency and with the support of our member OEB. I'm convinced that we will have an impact that will not surprise me, but maybe it will surprise some people in Brussels,” he noted.
Key priorities
Asked about the BusinessEurope's key priorities during the next years, he said that their priorities come from the need to be more competitive. “We need simplification. We cannot go on investing as much in regulation as we do in research and innovation,” he said. Secondly, he mentioned the Single Market. “Twenty per cent intra-trade versus 70% (in the US). The IMF came out with a survey saying that the barriers we have within the single market currently correspond to close to a 50% tariff on goods and more than 100% on services. This is self-inflicted. We do not have to negotiate with Beijing or with Washington. This is cleaning up our own house. Imagine the growth, the prosperity and the competitiveness we can unleash,” he highlighted.
He added that there is also a challenge regarding the workforce. Mentioning Cyprus’ low unemployment, he said that this will happen across Europe as well. “Until 2050, 35 million Europeans will leave the workforce. So, we're going to have a skills challenge, with the involvement of AI and technology. We need to stay ahead when it comes to investing and be able to hire a forward-leaning workforce for the future. That will be key for our members. I do not think we're going to be talking about high unemployment and the worry of austerity. We will be fighting to get the right talent,” he said.
Moreover, Persson mentioned the high energy costs. “Both China and US are so more competitive when it comes to energy prices,” he mentioned, noting that this is a hugely complex question, without a simple solution. “It's about tech neutrality. We need all possible energy sources and creating a fossil-free society. We need to improve interconnecting between countries. There are initiatives from Cyprus when it comes to gas, and better we have it within Europe than getting it from somewhere else. But of course, to have competitive energy prices is something that is also raised across our membership because it's a short-term and mid-term challenge not to go out of business”.
Finally, he mentioned trade. “Our biggest trading partner is the US, and that has been a bit challenging lately. We think that we have an as good agreement as we can with the Americans. Is it perfect? No. Is it balanced? No. But the alternative to ending up in a trade war would have been much, much worse for European business. So, we need to take well care of that relationship and at the same time offer the possibility to diversify business”, he said, mentioning trade agreements with Mercosur in South America, Mexico, Indonesia, India.
A dependency on China
Asked where China fits in all that, he said that “we have a dependency on China” and “we need to have a balanced approach towards China. China is a fast-growing nation. They're extremely long-term in their industrial objectives. We need to use the toolbox we have in trade defence system, and I think the Commission is using that in an orderly manner. But China will be a combination of opportunities and challenges. We need to balance that one as well,” he said.
Having an ambitious trade agenda with Mercosur, Mexico, Indonesia etc, will help us to balance the relationship with the US and to challenge the relationship with China, “because then you show that you have options, especially when it comes to rare earth metals,” he underlined.
Concluding, Frederick Persson said that he has high expectations on the upcoming Presidency, “but I'm also fully confident, given the work I see from our business colleagues at OEB, that this will be a huge, huge success”.
(Source: CNA)
