Ahead of the forthcoming European elections, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called on the European Commission to place a moratorium on all new employment laws.
This would give businesses the chance to focus on surviving the global downturn, the BCC argued.
As part of its pre-election manifesto, the business organisation also urged European member states to avoid any retreat into protectionism as the economic crisis continues to bite.
Other central proposals in the BCC’s manifesto include a radical change in financial regulation, the completion of a practical, workable, single European market, and a fundamental review of the way that the EU and member states legislate.
David Frost, the BCC’s director general of the BCC, said: “Europe is at an important crossroads. GDP growth is not expected to recover until 2010 while unemployment and public deficits continue to rise. Businesses across the EU are experiencing tighter credit conditions, serious cash flow problems, and they are scaling back investment activity and shedding jobs. In the UK, the manufacturing sector has been hit particularly hard due to the collapse in world trade.
“Britain’s new MEPs will play a pivotal role in ensuring that Europe can recover from this crisis and in building its long term prosperity. All candidates need to ensure that the pronouncements rejecting protectionism in all its forms, whether at the EU summit in March or the G20 meeting in April, do not ring hollow.”
