Discussing global trade and labour mobility in Strasbourg

Key issues for European business, including global trade and labour mobility, were in focus during our Director General Markus J. Beyrer's visit to Strasbourg this week. Together with Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu and French Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou, he visited the French public employment service office to see how France supports mobile workers in finding employment and cooperates with other EU Member States, particularly for frontier workers. The discussions also touched on the ongoing revision of Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, which remains key to facilitating labour mobility across the EU.

European businesses continue to face administrative hurdles that hamper labour mobility and the provision of services. We are calling for a modern and simplified framework that reduces regulatory burden and reflects new forms of mobility such as telework. After 13 presidencies of the Council of the EU and 2 provisional agreements, it is high time to conclude these negotiations with an agreement.

During his visit to Strasbourg, Beyrer also met several Members of the European Parliament to discuss international trade issues such as EU relations with the United States, Mercosur, China and the future of the WTO. He stressed that maintaining a stable EU-US relationship while defending European interests remains a key priority for business and welcomed the Commission's plan to provisionally apply the EU-Mercosur agreement, allowing companies to start benefitting from it on the ground.