By Martin Banks - 22nd January 2009
New or more effective remedies to the crisis still need to be found
Philippe De Buck
The director general of BusinessEurope, Philippe De Buck, has demanded “more effective” measures to tackle the current financial crisis.
Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, De Buck said the “unprecedented” degree of intervention recently seen by national governments throughout Europe had been necessary.
The single currency, he said, had “won its spurs” during the crisis, adding, “Without the euro, the chaos would have been enormous.”
He also believes the European economy can come out of the crisis "stronger than before."
However, De Buck warned, “I do not hide that the current period poses a tremendous amount of challenges and will see numerous changes. Everyone will have to be prepared and contribute their share.
"New or more effective remedies to the crisis still need to be found.”
He urged member states to use the crisis as a “catalyst” for structural reforms and to create “more flexibility” in the banking system.
“We must also focus on training – now. The next economic upswing will be unthinkable if companies lack a sufficiently qualified workforce.
“Therefore, it is crucial that companies and governments invest in their people.”
De Buck, whose organisation represents business groups all over Europe, was a keynote speaker at the first of a two-day conference organised by the European Economic and Social Committee.
The conference, called “Ways to rebuild the European social market economy” discussed measures to enable a rapid re-launch of economies in member states.
Other speakers at thee event, which concludes on Friday, include John Monks, secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation, and French Socialist MEP Pervenche Berès, chair of parliament’s monetary affairs committee.
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