Comitetul Economic si Social European
Position paper of the EESC Employers’ Group
The corona crisis is a huge human and societal tragedy for Europeans and for people throughout the world. Tackling its diverse impacts requires a series of measures, from coping with the emergency stage and proceeding via recovery and rebuilding towards long-term success and stability. Businesses that manage to recover well and succeed are key to the recovery of the EU economy as a whole.
The corona crisis is changing the global economy daily, with the results still being uncertain. The crisis has hit all sectors, from services to industries and agriculture. The most serious problems have been encountered by SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs who have had their businesses disappear and are in a very critical situation.
To limit the economic and social damage caused by this critical situation, a series of measures is needed, extending from coping with the emergency stage towards recovery and rebuilding.
This brochure presents the EESC's opinions in the area of taxation and gives an overview of key recommendations. We believe that great efforts are needed to prevent aggressive tax planning behaviour by businesses and non-transparency by Member States to ensure equal treatment of firms and to promote European competitiveness for the benefit of all Europeans.
We need to join forces at EU level to better tackle the major challenges we face today and to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving these goals is not possible without research, development and innovation (RD & I).
RD & I is the real driver of growth and the key to creating employment and increasing competitiveness. Novel technologies and new solutions, products and services improve people’s well-being and quality of life.
In this brochure, we have put together a series of semester-related opinions and an information report in which the EESC makes policy recommendations on the various elements of the European Semester.
This report provides a study of the retail sector, which is one of the biggest in Europe in terms of the number of enterprises active and individuals employed. The study aims to provide practical insights on revitalising small retailers in urban and rural areas. The underlying objective is achieved through identifying the main trends, challenges and opportunities faced by small retailers, and outlining what types of good practices have been put into place to support these enterprises in city-centres, including highlights on the situation of small retailers located in rural areas.
This Study aims at making a comprehensive overview of the EU State aid rules and their impact on SMEs in the period 2014-2018 with the goal to identify which policy issues create the greatest challenges for SMEs (incl. social partners and NGOs), and what are the best practices available to tackle the issues.
This study analyses the impact of changes in corporate tax on investment, growth, employment and public finance. It is based on both a review of existing theoretical and empirical literature and a new event study considering the economic impact of significant changes in corporate tax rates in developed economies between 1981 and 2014.
A competitive and sustainable economy with a high level of employment is the basis for the European economic and social model which also contributes to better economic and social convergence. Enhancing productivity based on skills and knowledge is the only sound recipe for maintaining the well-being of European societies. The social dimension of Europe cannot be strengthened without economic growth and a well-functioning internal market. This document summarises the views of the Employers' Group on the future of social policies in the EU.
Over the years, European value chains have become increasingly relevant to employment in the EU. While research on industrial value chains is broadly covered in recent years, the effects of value-chains in European service sectors still needs to be quantified. Especially the impact of cross border services in the EU need further coverage. This study tries to fill this gap by quantifying the number of employees dependent on the exports of services to other member states.
