European Round Table of Industrialists

The European Round Table of Industrialists ( European Round Table Industrialists ) is a lobby group of some 50 business leaders (as of 2013) of major European, trans -national corporations with headquarters in Brussels. Objectives of the Forum are developing long-term business-friendly policies and the organization of meetings with the European Commission, individual Commissioners or the Commission President to make the direction of the integration process within the EU members.

History

In 1983, a total of 17 business leaders and two members of the European Commission, the European Round Table of Industrialists at the instigation of Pehr Gyllenhammar ( Volvo) and Etienne Davignon ( European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry) promote the ERT with the goal of European integration. Planned Europe was about to make in terms of the big companies and to strengthen the EC. National vetoes of the Member States, which could delay or impede a decision by the EC, should be abolished. The ERT should not have to deal with details, but say in the direction of central Europe, while in close contact with the European Commission and the European Parliament. Other founding members were Umberto Agnelli (Fiat ), Helmut Maucher (Nestlé), Olivier Lecerf ( Lafarge Coppée ) and Wolfgang Seelig (Siemens).

Chairman of the ERT is since 2009 the Swede Leif Johansson (CEO of Ericsson ).

Projects

The European Round Table can be viewed with its network as the most influential and formative lobby organization within the European Union. European major construction projects in road and rail transport such as, inter alia, the Euro Tunnel, the fixed link, the expansion of the European high-speed railway network between London, Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Rome, the development of high- speed trains such as the maglev train, go back to initiatives by the European Round Table.

The Lisbon Strategy was launched by the ERT, the European Round Table.