Frankfurt/Brussels, 17 April 2024 – VDMA Executive Director Thilo Brodtmann comments on the upcoming special summit of EU heads of state:

•    "It is good, but also high time that the EU heads of government seriously addressed the competitiveness of European industry in a special summit. The European machinery and equipment manufacturing industry expects a clear signal from the European Council to the next EU Commission that Europe needs a change of course: Away from over-regulation and towards a consistent strengthening of Europe as an industrial location!"

•    "The Letta report must be the kick-off to a fundamental reform of the EU Single Market. The machinery industry is calling on the EU Commission to present a radical masterplan for deepening and strengthening the European Single Market as soon as it takes office. Petty concerns of individual member states must not be allowed to hinder this process."

•    “Medium-sized industrial companies in particular need more room for innovation. With a market economy, entrepreneurship and international competitiveness as the guiding principles of European industrial policy, prosperity and investment will receive a boost."

A photo of Thilo Brodtmann, VDMA Executive Director, can be found here. [1]

VDMA represents 3600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 910 billion euros. Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.