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.

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.