On 16 July 2025, the EESC Employers' Group hosted a debate on the challenges faced by the Ukrainian private sector on the path to EU membership, with guests from the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the European Business Association, the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and the Federation of Employers of Ukraine.
On 2 July 2025, the EESC Employers’ Group held an Extraordinary Meeting in Copenhagen titled "Tackling Societal Challenges Through Trusted Partnerships", in cooperation with the Confederation of Danish Employers, Danish Industry and Danish Agriculture and Food Council and under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The event offered a timely platform to examine how trust-based cooperation between governments, employers, and social partners can enhance Europe's competitiveness and social resilience in the face of structural transformation.
As the global trade landscape grows increasingly complex, European policymakers and business leaders are grappling with the dual challenges of geopolitical instability and shifting transatlantic relations. At a recent panel discussion, Group members discussed with experts the future of EU trade policy, with a particular focus on the transatlantic trade relations ahead of the looming July 9 deadline for resolving EU-US tariff disputes.
On 18 June 2025, representatives from leading business and SME organisations convened to discuss Europe’s upcoming priorities, focusing on competitiveness, regulatory simplification, and the challenges posed by the current geopolitical climate. The meeting, opened by Stefano Mallia, President of the EESC Employers' Group, brought together key voices including Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, and Gerhard Huemer, Director of SMEUnited.
The main obstacle for European businesses is overregulation, which creates uncertainty and disincentives to investment. Read the full interview by President Mallia to journalist Angelos Angelodimou for the Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros.
28 May 2025 - The EESC Employers' Group presented today its new study"A Business-Centric Approach to Cutting Red Tape - From Complexity to Clarity: Reducing EU Regulatory Burdens with AI" in the presence of Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification.
26 May 2025 – On 28 May, the EESC Employers' Group will launch its new study"A Business-Centric Approach to Cutting Red Tape - From Complexity to Clarity: Reducing EU Regulatory Burdens with AI" in the presence of Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification.
16 May 2025 - The Employers' Group held an extraordinary meeting in Warsaw titled Time to unlock a security-driven competitiveness, with the intent to underscore that security – broadly understood as economic, technological, energy, social, and geostrategic stability – is becoming a key component of competitiveness.
15 May 2025 – In the framework of the Polish Presidency, the Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee is organising on 16 May, together with its Polish members' organisations and Poland's Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, a conference titled "Time to unlock a security-driven competitiveness".
From 9 to 12 April 2025, an EESC Employers' Group delegation participated in the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, becoming an institutional partner of this distinguished event that brings together leaders from politics, business, academia, and civil society to discuss and shape the policies for the future of Europe and the world, including related to competitiveness, geopolitics, sustainability and global trade.
On 26 March 2025, President Stefano Mallia met a delegation from the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU) for a focused exchange on strengthening EU-Ukraine economic cooperation in the context of Ukraine’s candidate status for EU membership.
On 26 March 2025, the Employers' Group held a debate with representative from the EU institutions and EU security and defence industry. President Stefano Mallia opened the debate underlining that in the face of global uncertainties, the EU's commitment to strengthening its defence capabilities opens new horizons for innovation, job creation and economic growth.
26 February 2025 – The Employers’ Group strongly endorses the Commission’s decisive push for industrial and economic competitiveness through today’s publication of the Clean Industrial Deal and the Omnibus packages on sustainability and investment simplification. These measures signal a necessary shift towards cutting through regulatory deadweight and creating a business environment where European companies can scale, innovate, and compete globally, while staying aligned with our climate and social goals.
29 January 2025 - The Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee welcomes the European Commission's Competitiveness Compass as a critical and timely step to reignite Europe’s economic engine.
27 January 2025 – The Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee launched today the Group's policy priorities for 2025 and beyond. In a paper titled "Unlocking Competitiveness for Shared Prosperity", the Group outlines a number of actions needed to restore EU competitiveness and to create the much-needed EU business-friendly environment.
22 January 2025 - The members of the Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee voted strongly against the EESC opinion on "Pro-worker AI: levers for harnessing the potential and mitigating the risks of AI in connection with employment and labour market policies" and put forward a counter-opinion, which will be appended to the EESC opinion as it received a third of the votes (112 in favour, 136 against and 11 abstentions).
22 November 2024 – In the context of the Extraordinary Group Meeting in Malta, a delegation of the EESC Employers' Group, led by President Stefano Mallia, met with Prime Minister Robert Abela to discuss the upcoming EU political agenda, in the eve of the starting of a new Commission.
How AI can help businesses and regulators to manage better the EU's regulatory overload that is suffocating competitiveness and growth, by Stefano Mallia, President of the Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee and Zdeněk Zajíček, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce.
