What EU policies are needed for enterprises/business to become competitive in a fair, sustainable, stronger and more resilient way to realize the European Green Deal

European Economic and Social Committee/ EESC, exploratory opinion requested by the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU on 'What EU policies are needed for enterprises/business to become competitive in a fair, sustainable, stronger and more resilient way to realize the European Green Deal'.

Key points

The EESC:

• points out that there is still a long way to go to reach the final objectives of decarbonisation and transition to a more sustainable economy set out by the Commission in its original Green Deal formulation. Companies need much more certainty, global agreement, guidance, sophisticated accountability methods and, ultimately, support from legislators;
• highlights the urgent need for public funds to be strategically allocated towards goals that are jointly agreed on by European policy-makers and civil society. This initiative must be closely interlinked with the industrial strategy;
• emphasises that the Member States need EU-level support and civil society inputto assist companies through guidance, benchmarking and shared learning capacities to adopt and execute the structural reforms coming from the Green Deal: bolstering employment rates, enhancing access to skills and labour, promoting flexibility and efficiency in labour markets;
• encourages policy-makers to take a collaborative approach and leave no one behind, as it is essential to address the common challenges and leverage the strengths of the different regions;
• recommends that the EU assertively and effectively take a partnership approach in order for our trading partners to commit to comply with our social, economic and environmental standards.

For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat