Social Rights and Entrepreneurial Rights must go Hand in Hand

Chambers Ireland as a member of EUROCHAMBRES, the Network of European Chambers, has endorsed a proposal for a European Pillar of Entrepreneurial Rights, challenging the Commission and other policy makers to match the forthcoming Pillar of Social Rights initiative with the parallel pursuit of a more business-friendly climate.

“Entrepreneurs don’t usually talk in terms of rights, but we are hearing more and more about social rights,” said Arnaldo Abruzzini, EUROCHAMBRES’ CEO. “Entrepreneurs are entitled to favourable conditions in order to fulfil their role as the creators of jobs, growth, opportunities and prosperity. The European Pillar of Social Rights cannot meet its ‘social triple A’ objective unless there is a healthy business environment.”

Ian Talbot, Chief Executive Chambers Ireland said, “We support the proposal for a European Pillar of Entrepreneurial Rights and believe it will help support and foster a culture of entrepreneurship in Ireland. The Pillar should encompass the key policy elements that need to be defined at EU level and rigorously pursued and implemented across the member states to make Europe an attractive place to create, develop and run a business. These include notably a fully functioning single market, favourable trading conditions, viable financing solutions, an adequately skilled and flexible workforce and affordable energy and natural resources.”

A delegation of 14 Irish business representatives from the Irish Chamber Network recently participated in the European Parliament of Enterprises (EPE) on 13^th October. The voting results from the EPE indicated a clear sense among the participating entrepreneurs that policy makers must do much better in helping businesses across various sectors to put Europe on a sustainable growth trajectory.

The European Pillar of Entrepreneurial Rights would reinforce the objectives of recent Commission packages such as the Capital Markets Union, the Digital Single Market, Upgrading the Single Market, Trade for All, Energy Union and the New Skills Agenda. It would also provide momentum to the European Semester process and should be integrated into the yearly cycle of economic monitoring. “None of the elements we propose are in themselves revolutionary, but they need to be delivered in a full, effective and coherent manner across the EU to the benefit of its 20 million+ businesses,” concluded Mr Abruzzini.

The European Pillar of Entrepreneurial Rights proposal was adopted by the EUROCHAMBRES Plenary Assembly and will now be presented to the European Commission.

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