At the 7th Trilateral Forum between Confindustria, BDI, and MEDEF, held in Rome on November 5-6, 2025, with the participation of European Commission Executive Vice President Stéphane Séjourné and the presidents of the three main European industrial organizations - Emanuele Orsini (CONFINDUSTRIA), Peter Leibinger (BDI), and Patrick Martin (MEDEF) - a joint declaration was signed urging European institutions to change course on industrial policy.
The three organizations issued an “urgent appeal to EU institutions and Member States to act promptly” according to six strategic priorities to boost competitiveness and strengthen the continent's economic sovereignty:
- act decisively to advance the EU simplification agenda launched with the “Omnibus”
- making decarbonisation a genuine driver of competitiveness by combining reduced energy costs, realistic targets and fully technology-neutral policies
- securing Europe’s technological sovereignty and reducing strategic dependencies through a holistic approach
- financing Europe’s industrial future and aligning the future EU budget with the competitiveness needs, recognizing the strategic role of R&I
- towards a competitive and independent Europe in life sciences: defining an ambitious strategy for the future
- boosting Europe’s defence industrial base: tackling market fragmentation and strengthening investment to close capability gap.