V4 Business Associations Call for Equal Energy Pricing & Tariff Free Arrangements in Key Sectors Across the Atlantic

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA, July 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Exactly one month before the President Trump's self-imposed deadline on tariffs, Central European business leaders and industry tycoons convened in Bratislava to talk with their national and EU top level officials during the fourth edition of the Visegrad 4 Business Conference. More than five hundred participants from various business and government sectors from the V4 countries took active part in various panel discussions focusing on EU-US trade relations, automotive industry, regional and EU competitiveness as well as trade relations with emerging markets.

EU Commissioner on Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency Maroš Šefčovič delivered his keynote remarks followed by an exclusive one-on-one interview on the stage as the main speaker of the Visegrad 4 Business Conference. Leaders and decision makers from the V4 regional employer unions and business associations attended a roundtable discussion with Šefčovič behind closed doors on the sidelines of the Conference in order to engage in an open and sincere exchange with the aim to identify a way forward for European industry which is facing decline in global competitiveness. This meeting resulted in presenting a Visegrad 4 Business Joint EU Memorandum in which V4 businesses express their support to Commisioner Šefčovičs in his role within the tariff negotiations with the US with preference to ensure tariff-free arrangements in key sectors such as automotive, steel and aluminum or clean technologies. Business organizations also call for urgently addressing high energy prices; ensuring a level playing field across the EU; tighter enforcement of existing trade defense instruments; urgent definition of the so-called post-safeguard measures and strengthening protection against resource shuffling and circumvention. The document also underlines the need for EU institutions to react with pragmatic, lawful, proportionate measures that are tailored to avoid harming the EU internal market.

In order to prevent further loss of global competitiveness of European car manufacturers, signatories of the Memorandum propose swift and decisive measures to be implemented including stabilization and regulation of electricity prices, introduction of support measures for manufacturers in the area of R&D and creation and development of local production supplier clusters support programs. This includes accelerating investment in battery and chip manufacturing in Europe, supporting traditional manufacturers and harnessing European capacity.

Fair competition, balanced regulation and targeted industry support can ensure sustainable economic security and the EU’s global position and hence reinvent the MADE IN EUROPE brand. Industry representatives cite as key measures the reduction of regulatory and administrative burdens on business, the inclusion of strategic industries such as steel in EU innovation programmes and the promotion of realistic transformation targets and technological neutrality in the automotive sector. The Memorandum identifies high energy prices as a major obstacle to sustainable competitiveness. Therefore, proposals include short-term cost-cutting measures for energy-intensive industries, limiting speculation on energy exchanges and promoting long-term off-exchange contracts. The business sector sees the harmonization of network charges and compensation for energy-intensive industries as a way to ensure a fair internal market environment.

“More than ever before, we need engaging debate and cooperation of the private and public sectors in order to ensure economic prosperity and pave the way forward for our industry and businesses not only on the national or regional V4 levels, but also globally from the EU perspective,” concludes Lukáš Parízek, Chairman of the Council of Slovak Exporters and founder of the Conference.

Visegrad 4 Business Conference is jointly organized since 2022 by four business organizations from the V4 region: Council of Slovak Exporters, Czech Association of Exporters, Hungarian business association MAPI Klub and Polish Economic Forum. The conference is organized with the support of the International Visegrad Fund, individual V4 governments and private sponsors. For more information visit www.visegrad4business.eu.

Bryan E. Leib
Henry Public Relations
bleib@henrypr.com
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