Euroviews. EU leaders must double down on sustainability to secure a competitive and resilient future

As the dust starts to settle on the EU elections, there is no doubt that the political dial has shifted towards the right — but there is still a glimmer of hope that we can continue the important work from the last few years. What voters are calling for is stability and certainty. 

As business leaders, we are committed to supporting the implementation of an improved Green Deal. This deal remains the key tool to ensure Europe’s competitiveness and resilience on the world stage, and European decision-makers must capitalise on that rather than allow it to fall by the wayside.   

The European Green Deal (EGD) was adopted in 2020 as Europe’s new growth strategy, representing a bold step toward a more sustainable economy with cross-societal support. But after years of poly crises, from pandemic to war to inflation, Europeans’ concerns about the cost of living, security, and social disparities have grown.  

So the question is, how do we reconcile these concerns in the face of rapidly escalating climate change and put together a robust response?  

As progressive businesses, we are here to support this journey.  We know it will require effort, but we are ready to walk the talk, provided we have the certainty that EU policymakers will commit to delivering on the sustainability agenda.

We want to make the Green Deal’s objectives a reality and put forward concrete propositions to bolster European resilience, competitiveness and prosperity.

Our suggestion is to complement and rejuvenate the Green Deal with four additional deals. The first is a new industry deal that acknowledges the EU’s industrial base and supports the transformation of our model of production; the second is a new economic deal that creates the assets for Europe’s