By Stefano Mallia, Employers' Group President

As the dust settles on the last State of the Union address by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, employers are pleased to see competitiveness back on the agenda after years of neglect.

Asking Mario Draghi to prepare a report on the future of European competitiveness is indeed good news when it comes to making business easier in Europe and regaining a competitive edge. Europe's share of the global economy has been declining for years and it is predicted to be less than 10% by 2050.

Just to take a few examples: Europe has some of the most productive retailers but has no online retail platform to match the size of leading US and Chinese online retailers. Europe has strength in software, too, but is not leveraging its position to establish a world-leading business-to-business software company.

The reality is that compared to our competitors, EU businesses are burdened by significant administrative obstacles that hinder their ability to invest and effectively undergo the green and digital transitions.

Many of the new initiatives mentioned by von der Leyen are at the core of our work, such as the delivery of a competitiveness check, fast-track permitting on wind energy, sectorial dialogues in view of supporting business models for transition, the Social Partners Summit at Val Duchesse, and last but not least Draghi's report on competitiveness, which must also integrate a look at the single market, which was totally missing from von der Leyen's speech.

But given that this legislature will switch to campaign mode at the beginning of 2024 for the European elections, allow me to be a bit pessimistic, despite the positive tone of this landmark speech. Time is short. To regain competitiveness we need political will now. We urgently need to bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality. Time is not on our side.

The Employers' Group will organise an extraordinary meeting in Valencia at the end of November precisely to discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead.