A New Chapter for BusinessEurope Begins: Maciej Witucki Assumes Presidency
On 1 July, a new chapter for BusinessEurope officially began in Brussels as Maciej Witucki assumed the role of President of BusinessEurope. A reception marking the start of the new leadership’s mandate brought together ambassadors, senior EU policymakers and business leaders from across Europe.
The event also marked the beginning of the mandate of the organisation’s new leadership team, including Vidmantas Janulevičius, President of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (LPK), who officially assumed his role as Vice President of BusinessEurope.
Speaking at the reception, Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute, stressed that Europe’s greatest challenge today is not a lack of potential, but the slow pace of implementing decisions. He underlined that Europe already has a clear understanding of the reforms needed to strengthen its competitiveness and must now focus on delivering them.
According to Vidmantas Janulevičius, Europe has reached a pivotal moment.
“Europe has had a clear diagnosis for a long time. What matters now is not producing more reports, but making decisions. This may be Europe’s last opportunity to strengthen its competitiveness,” said V. Janulevičius.
He emphasised that strengthening Europe’s competitiveness requires decisive action, including:
- deepening the Single Market in areas where it remains incomplete, particularly in capital markets, energy, telecommunications and defence;
- reducing regulatory and administrative fragmentation that limits business growth, slows investment and hinders the free movement of capital across Europe;
- creating the so-called “fifth freedom” by ensuring the free movement of knowledge, innovation, data and research.
As Lithuania prepares for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, competitiveness will become one of the key priorities on the European agenda. Achieving this requires bringing together capital, innovation, energy and industrial capabilities into a more integrated and effective system, enabling Europe to compete successfully in the global economy.
Photo (from left): BusinessEurope President Maciej Witucki, LPK Permanent Representative to BusinessEurope Rasa Uzdavinytė, and LPK President and BusinessEurope Vice President Vidmantas Janulevičius.
