The Confederation of European Business, shortened as BusinessEurope, is a lobby group representing enterprises of all sizes in the European Union (EU) and seven non-EU European countries. It represents 42 national business federations and employers' organizationshttps://www.businesseurope.eu/members/. The current president of the confederation is Maciej Witucki, while the Director General is Markus J. Beyrer.
Based in Brussels and registered in Belgium as an Association internationale sans but lucratif,BusinessEurope, Re: Classification of Foreign Exchange Differences ... under IFRS 18, correspondence published on 24 November 2025 the confederation is officially recognised as a social partner at European level and involved in a range of economic and social decisions and cooperates with a number of stakeholders and business partners. It promotes the interests of corporate citizens to ensure that public policy supports the European economy. It is generally considered the strongest interest organisation in Brussels, and represents 20 million companies through its member trade associations in 36 European countries.
History
The association was founded in 1958, first called UNICE (Union des Industries de la Communauté Européenne) and later changed its name to BusinessEurope in January 2007 during the presidency of Ernest-Antoine Seillière. In 2014, Unilever terminated its membership of BusinessEurope's Advisory and Support Group because it opposed the organisation's stance on carbon dioxide emissions.
Leadership The association is led by a president, which has been held by the following persons:
1958–1961 Léon Bekaert 1961–1962 Georges Villiers 1962–1967 H. J. de Koster 1967–1971 Fritz Berg 1971–1975 1975–1980 1981–1983 Guido Carli 1984–1986 Raymond Pennock 1986–1990 1990–1994 1994–1998 François Perigot 1998–2003 Georges Jacobs 2003–2005 Jürgen Strube 2005–2009 Ernest-Antoine Seillière 2009–2013 2013–2018 Emma Marcegaglia 2018–2022 Pierre Gattaz 2022-2026 Fredrik Persson Since July 2026: Maciej Witucki.
BusinessEurope is administered by a director general. Markus J. Beyrer has held that position since 2013.
Activities The Confederation of European Business organises the biannual BusinessEurope Day in Brussels.
Member organisations
Country Organisation(s) Federation of Austrian Industries Federation of Belgian Enterprises Bulgarian Industrial Association – Union of the Bulgarian Business Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB) Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic Federation of German Industries Confederation of German Employers' Associations Confederation of Danish Industries Confederation of Danish Employers Estonian Employers' Confederation Confederation of Finnish Industries Mouvement des Entreprises de France Hellenic Federation of Enterprises Hrvatska Udruga Poslodavaca Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists Irish Business and Employers Confederation The Federation of Icelandic Industries Confederation of Icelandic Employers General Confederation of Italian Industry Lietuvos pramonininku konfederacija Business Federation Luxembourg Employers' Confederation of Latvia Montenegrin Employers Federation The Malta Chamber of Commerce Enterprise Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise Polish Confederation Lewiatan Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa Concordia Unija poslodavaca Srbije Association of Employers of Slovenia National Union of Employers (Slovakia) Associazione Nazionale dell'Industria Sammarinese Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Économiesuisse Schweizerischer Arbeitgeberverband Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations Federation of Employers of Ukraine Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs Confederation of British Industry
See also European Business Summit EuropeanIssuers European Trade Union Confederation
References
Sources European Social Partners as recognised by the Treaty of Lisbon European Transparency Register RFI 20 May 2011
External links