BDA, MEDEF and BDI on Brexit: this will expose Europe to great turbulence

BERLIN, 30-Jun-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — The British citizens have made the democratic and unequivocal decision to demand for their country to leave the EU. While French and German business leaders accept this decision, they are fully aware, that this will expose Europe to great turbulence.

MEDEF BDI and BDA are committed to do everything in their power to now mobilize our unique European capacities. Europe must resolutely come together, regain confidence and go on to the offensive.

The French-German motor of European integration is needed more than ever. Its historical power to unite Europe through reconciliation, the common will for peace, prosperity and social security for its people and societies needs to regain momentum. The task is to set the right priorities for more European integration in key areas and to restraint in small matters, that can better be handled on national levels.

Therefore our political leaders are asked:

• solemnly reiterate their commitment to Europe’s values: to ensure peace and security across the continent, to guarantee our liberties, to provide the right framework for European companies to be more competitive in the interests of higher employment and growth for the benefit of all Europeans.
• adopt a united stance in external relations, security policy and combating terror. The EU must speak with one voice in all these areas and also be given the competences it needs to do so. This includes the possibility of majority decisions in the European Council.
• strengthen the two economic pillars of the European project, namely the single market (the four liberties of the free movement of goods, services, capital and people) and the Euro, with, in the case of the latter, immediate, credible and visible measures to reinforce its governance and achieve true economic convergence between the Member States.
• encourage a core of determined States from Western and Eastern Europe to go forward and implement projects with high added value for Europe, wherever action by countries in isolation is ineffective: education and apprenticeship without borders, energy security, migration policy, defence, trade, environmental protection and financial services;
• pursue national reforms in each of our countries to make our economy stronger and more competitive in order to guarantee the sustainability of our social model;
• identify new ways of interacting with UK: building bridges without hiding the fact, that, having decided to leave the EU, Britain will be deprived of a great number of tangible steps forward (such as passporting of financial services).

Pierre Gattaz                     Ulrich Grillo                        Ingo Kramer
President of MEDEF      President of BDI               President of BDA

Contact
Dr. Jobst-Hinrich Wiskow
Head of Department
Press and Public Relations
BDI e.V.
+493020281565
+493020282565
J.Wiskow@bdi.eu