Business leaders boost the European Dream

After our European ICT competitiveness roundup it seems natural to take a closer look at the hopes and expectations of European corporate leaders with regard to the future of the EU.

Some people doubt the usefulness of social media, but I beg to differ. This time I noticed an interesting report through @AchimMuellers on Twitter, a consultant who also blogs on Achim Müllers.

Müllers' tweet led me to the report by Booz & Co, the European Executive Council (EEC) and INSEAD: Revitalising the European Dream: A Corporate View.

In addition to demands for EU clout in world affairs and global free trade, the replies from 2,000 European business leaders and policy shapers are remarkably well in line with the current dual ambitions of the European Commission (and the Council) to focus on promoting sustainable public finances and contributing to growth-enhancing economic reforms according to the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020).

However, many business leaders feel that there is a lack of dialogue and interaction with the Commission.

Despite differing outlooks among big corporations and SMEs, as well as between individual countries, the authors of the 19-page report are convinced that

... the revitalisation of the European dream is an imperative that corporate leaders support, not at the expense of other regions, but as a critical requirement and contributor to a healthy and sustainable global economy.

Form and function

The web version of the European Dream report shows the conflict between form and function. The graphical designers have been allowed to use pleasing pastel colours, such as light blue on white and white on blue, which make reading harder and less enjoyable than simpler solutions like black on white. Caveat emptor!



Ralf Grahn


P.S. With the US countdown to default ongoing, professor Robert Reich offers a trenchant view of an ailing America (in the Social Europe Journal).