Plea to business to take active role in the future of Europe

Date: 12/04/01

By John Shelley

A LEADING EU lobbyist has made a plea to business to take an active role in the debate on the future of Europe.

Paul Adamson, chief executive of consultancy firm Adamson BSMG Worldwide, says that business leaders must seize the initiative in the talks on how the European Union should evolve in the wake of last December's Nice summit. He says this debate is different from all others in EU history because it will be more inclusive.

"Europe's political leaders have no choice but to make it genuinely participative by actively seeking input from all quarters," he said.

"Business leaders should take note and forget the past when their views were largely ignored, never mind canvassed. The time to make the business case on the future shape of the EU starts now."

Brussels-based Adamson says the protestations of European leaders that they want to make the Union more relevant to the average citizen mask a "crisis of confidence" in the Union institutions. He argues the business world must flex its muscles in order to make sure that the final balance between decision-making on an intergovernmental basis and that done through the European Union, accurately reflects its needs.

An essay by Adamson on the 'shifting powers and changing priorities' of Europe appears in the new issue of European Business Journal.

A leading EU lobbyist has made a plea to business to take an active role in the debate on the future of Europe.