Exactly 60 years ago, on 28 February 1958, the Presidents and Directors General of the national Belgian, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Luxembourgish business federations announced the creation of the Union of Industries from the European Community (UNICE), today BusinessEurope with 39 members in 34 European countries. The very first meeting of the organisation took place on 1 March 1958 and BusinessEurope supported the European integration and the aims pursued by the Treaties of Rome from the outset.
“We have a key role to play in making sure that our model of social market economy continues to thrive”, says BusinessEurope President Emma Marcegaglia, looking at 60 years of the association’s history and at the challenges ahead.
For this anniversary BusinessEurope published a photo album with key milestones in the organisation’s history, which is available here.
Over the past 60 years, European integration has been a crucial driver of companies’ success. The European business community has often set the pace for further European integration. A thriving business community will always be essential for Europe to succeed and remain one of the best places in which to live and work in the world.
On 1 March 2018, the Presidents and Directors General of our member federations will meet in Brussels at BUSINESSEUROPE Day 2018 and discuss the “value.s of business” together with top European policy-makers and business leaders. BusinessEurope will livestream parts of this event on its own homepage and via Euractiv. Please see the event programme here.
