BusinessEurope, the confederation of European businesses, has called for a four-pillar strategy for economic recovery based on companies' access to finance, the fight against protectionism, the coordination of national recovery plans and the speeding up of structural reforms.
BusinessEurope has 40 members from 34 countries, including Malta's Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Enterprise. Its members represent business organisations in the European Union and European Economic Area countries as well as some central and eastern European countries.
The confederation of European businesses said in its Spring Economic Outlook that the sharp deterioration in the cost of and access to finance has become a life-threatening concern for numerous European companies. "Coordinated and effective action is of the utmost importance to restore credit flows," it said.
BusinessEurope said it was strongly opposed to new impediments to international trade and capital flows, and asked for the level playing field on the internal market to be maintained.
It called for a swift implementation and coordination between the 27 European Union member states over the EU recovery plan which must be must be stepped up and safeguarded by the European Commission and the Council.
"A new reform momentum is vital, with priority for better regulation, flexibility and sustainability of public finances," it added.
BusinessEurope said the EU was facing its biggest economic challenge and it forecast a fall in EU real GDP of 2.2 per cent this year. It also said that EU27 investment spending is expected to plunge by 7.4 per cent in 2009 and exports to contract by 5.9 per cent.
The Spring Outlook reported that EU employment is expected to decrease by 4.5 million this year, with almost two million job losses accounted for by Spain and the United Kingdom. It also said that inflation will fall close to zero around mid-2009 and will average 0.8 per cent for the year as a whole.
BusinessEurope expressed particular concern regarding the rise of protectionist pressures and the risk of further deterioration in financing conditions. The eurozone officially went into a recession last November while NSO figures released last week showed that the Maltese economy shrank in the last two quarters last year, which means that Malta now officially in a recession.
Helga Ellul, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry told The Times: "We are in a situation where vigilance and responsible behaviour are key. At the current juncture, the global economy is characterised by a significant downturn in demand, with the major economies falling into recession. The fact that our major trading partners in terms of goods and services were largely affected was bound to have implications for the Maltese economy."
Mrs Ellul said that in January the Chamber had prepared a paper including numerous short-term and long-term measures as part of a package for economic support. "We are in fact still waiting for the government's response to it. So far we have seen that the task force has been successfully established, with immediate results," she said.
She said the Chamber was confident about the future, "but stimulus is now all-important". What is more, she said, business needs to be listened to, and supported. "The Maltese private sector has to be at the forefront of change, in the way we do business, and in the legislative framework within which we carry out our business," she added.