by Stefano Mallia, President of the EESC Employers’ Group

On 16 May, the Employers’ Group held an extraordinary meeting in Warsaw on the topic Time to unlock a security-driven competitiveness. The aim was to make it quite clear that security – broadly understood as economic, technological, energy, social and geostrategic stability – is becoming a key component of competitiveness.

The event was co-organised with Poland’s Ministry of Development and Technology under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, and the organisations represented by the group’s Polish members: Business Centre Club, Lewiatan Confederation, Employers of Poland, the Polish Craft Association and the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers. It brought together employers and government leaders from all over Europe. 

The main takeaway was that restoring Europe’s competitiveness is not simply an economic necessity: it’s a matter of security, sovereignty and survival.

With rivalry between the United States and China getting fiercer, the European Union stands at a strategic crossroads and must develop its own strategic autonomy. On the one hand, there is a clear need for deeper economic integration; on the other, the EU faces growing geopolitical threats, trade tensions and ever stiffer competition from third countries. In this new context, security, understood broadly to comprise economic, technological, energy, social and geostrategic stability, has become part and parcel of competitiveness.

Strategic autonomy cannot be achieved without a strong industrial base, an efficient single market and a regulatory environment that fosters investment and scaling up.

This goes beyond mere ambition: it is essential for preserving the European economic and social model. We need to invest in innovation while safeguarding expertise, critical infrastructure and technological sovereignty. At a time of deep uncertainty, the economic aspect of security – encompassing access to raw materials, energy and infrastructure – is paramount.