Brussels business reps expect coalition with centre-right

A child peers from a voting cabin during European and local elections in Baleni, Romania, Sunday, June 9, 2024. ©Andreea Alexandru/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

The Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Eurochambres celebrated that the centre-right has held in the European Parliament after Sunday's results.

Eurochambres say that the implementation of the Parliament's previous Green Deal was challenging, and now there is a chance to revise it to ensure fairness.

CEO of Eurochambres Ben Butters said, "We had a lot of concerns about the amount of legislation that the Green Deal has led to, and that comes with a lot of burdens on businesses, a lot of compliance and reporting burdens."

According to Eurochambres, the single market needs to be stronger for a more autonomous European Union.

"We need to tackle those fundamental structural challenges that businesses are encountering, particularly in manufacturing sectors: energy costs, access to raw materials, access to supplies in general" said Butters.

Meanwhile the The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which represents workers at a European level, said despite a decline in the Left and Green parties, the majority could still advance a social agenda and welfare model.

"The most important thing is no deals with the extreme right. This is the most important thing because they cannot be trusted and at every opportunity in the past they have voted against working people and their interests,” Esther Lynch, Confederal Secretary of the ETUC told Euronews.

For ETUC, the EU is ageing and needs foreign workers who should be protected from exploitation.

"Migrant workers are very often the victims of exploitation by unscrupulous employers. We need to make sure that all workers are covered by fair terms and conditions of employment" Lynch said.

When it comes to renewing the Green Deal, ETUC advocates for more social investment and a new EU Just Transition Directive.

© Euronews