BRUSSELS, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

European companies urge the 28-29 June European Council in Brussels to take all the necessary decisions without further delay to restore confidence and put Europe back on track.

BUSINESSEUROPE President Jürgen R. Thumann said:  "Europe needs a much stronger investment and competitiveness agenda. Policy makers simply cannot continue to propose measures which increase costs for companies and lament that we are last in the world league for growth."

In its 5 point plan entitled "Growing out of the Crisis" BUSINESSEUROPE presents concrete measures to

• safeguard the Euro,
• improve public finances and speed up structural reforms,
• promote private investment,
• unleash the Single Market, and
• expand EU external trade

This strategy will allow Europe to double its long-term annual growth rate from 1.25% to 2.5%. This would mean:

• 1.4 million new jobs created every year and full employment in Europe by 2020,
• over €5000 extra annual income for an average household by 2020, and
• an average additional reduction in the structural budget deficit in EU Member States of 5% by 2020.

No growth strategy can work without trust in the Euro. But Europe can leave this crisis behind and emerge even stronger if policy makers recognize the central role of enterprises in driving growth and jobs. They must also recognize that recovery will only come if private investment is encouraged and facilitated in areas like energy, infrastructure or the digital sector.

Note to the editor

BUSINESSEUROPE represents more than 20 million small, medium and large companies employing some 120 million people in Europe. Active in European affairs since 1958, BUSINESSEUROPE's members are 41 leading industrial and employers' federations from 35 European countries. For the full list of our members, please visit our website.

http://www.businesseurope.eu

SOURCE BUSINESSEUROPE