ERT delegation meets Prime Minister Meloni

Rome, 16 July 2024: A delegation from the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome today. The meeting is part of a longstanding pattern of ERT meetings with heads of government across the EU-27.

The purpose is to share points of cross-sectoral consensus among the Members of ERT and discuss the best ways to empower a renewed long-term competitive strategy for Europe.

ERT Members, comprising some 60 CEOs and Chairs of the most significant industrial and technology companies in Europe, are committed to the European project and the peace and prosperity that the EU has provided for numerous decades.

As a fresh EU mandate will commence towards the end of this year, the delegation exchanged views with Prime Minister Meloni on the most pressing challenges of the moment. As major employers, innovators and investors in European countries, industry seeks to contribute solutions.

The leaders exchanged on the following priority areas:

1.Strengthening Europe – Competitiveness & the Single Market*: ERT is a vocal advocate for the EU Single Market as a unique source of prosperity and resilience. The recent release of the Letta Report and the European Council’s interest in advancing its recommendations provide a runway to invest fresh political capital in deepening the Single Market.

To that end, ERT continues to distribute a list of 100 Single Market obstacles submitted to the European Commission earlier this year, with a view to articulating how progress can be made. Addressing these obstacles can be transformative in reducing administrative burden, compliance costs and reporting obligations – by simplifying and harmonising the regulatory framework. It would also enable companies to reach scale faster and attract more investment.

Completing the Single Market is a demanding, yet worthwhile objective, as it would benefit citizens across the EU-27 and strengthen Europe’s place in an increasingly fractured world order. In this regard, ERT is encouraging Prime Minister Meloni and others heads of government in the EU to support the recommendations of the Letta report and invest political energy in implementation.

2. Green transition: Delivering the energy union and boosting the production and access to cleaner energy sources are two urgently required measures to address the risk of deindustrialisation currently facing Europe.

In view of the alarming pressure on energy-intensive industries, global competitiveness should be factored in to all policymaking and investment in modern and harmonised rollout of energy infrastructure should intensify.

3. Digital transition as a key pillar of Europe’s future success: The EU has to get back on its feet and ensure future-ready networks/connectivity. Alongside established issues such as slow, fragmented 5G rollout, AI developments, cloud computing, cybersecurity and data-sharing need attention if Europe is to be at the global forefront.

************

Note to Editors:

The names of the CEOs & Chairs in the ERT delegation are listed in the PDF of this statement.

* More information on ERT’s Single Market campaign can be found here: https://ert.eu/single-market. See in particular the Compendium and Technical Study.

** Link to the Competitiveness Council conclusions related to the Single Market: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-10298-2024-INIT/en/pdf.

° Link to energy publications (competitiveness of energy-intensive industries & energy infrastructure): https://ert.eu/documents/energy2024/.

ERT’s recently released publication The Digital Transformation of Industry is available here:

https://ert.eu/documents/digitaltransformation2024/

A full list of the membership of ERT is accessible here.