Council of Presidents (CoPres) of BusinessEurope
DECLARATION – MESSAGE FROM EUROPEAN ENTERPRISE TO THE UPCOMING CYPRUS PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU
The Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB) hosted the Council of Presidents of BusinessEurope in Nicosia from 19 to 21 November 2025.
BusinessEurope is the largest and most powerful business organization in Europe, explicitly recognized in the Treaties of the European Union as the main representative of European entrepreneurship, the pre-eminent Social Partner at European level and the main interlocutor of the EU Institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament) on behalf of European Employers.
The 42 most representative Employers’ and Industrialists’ Federations from 36 European countries are Members of BusinessEurope. Some countries such as Germany, Denmark and Iceland have separate Employers’ Federations and separate Federations of Industrialists. Together, BusinessEurope’s Member Federations represent more than 25 million businesses. The list of all Member Organizations can be found at the following link https://www.businesseurope.eu/members/
Cyprus has been represented in BusinessEurope since the 1980s by the Federation of Employers and Industrialists. The current President of OEB is a Member of the Board of Presidents and the respective DG is a Member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of BusinessEurope.
In the period from 1/1/2025 to 31/12/2026, due to the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the President of OEB George Pantelides is Vice President of BusinessEurope and Michalis Antoniou is a Member of the Executive Bureau. The President of BusinessEurope is the Swede Fredrik Persson and the DG is the Austrian Markus Beyrer.
The highest and most important meeting of BusinessEurope is the Council of Presidents which takes place once every six months in the country that assumes the Presidency of the European Union next. Only the Presidents, DGs and Permanent Delegates of the Organisations in Brussels (Permanent Delegates – DPs) participate in it. The main objective of each Summit is to understand the aspirations and objectives of the incoming Presidency and to promote the priorities of the European business community.
Within this framework, the Council of Presidents (CoPres) was held in Nicosia with the participation of Federations from 34 countries and during this CoPres:
– The President of the Republic, Mr. NiKos Christodoulides, received on November 20 at the Presidential Palace the Heads of the Federations with whom he discussed the plans of the Cyprus Presidency and the positions of European business.
– On the evening of 20 November, an official dinner was hosted by BusinessEurope for all participants in the Summit. The dinner was held in the event hall of the Presidential Palace, which was kindly granted by the Presidency of the Republic and was briefly attended by President Christodoulides and the Ministers of Finance and Energy Mr. Keravnos and Mr. Papanastasiou respectively, as well as the Deputy Ministers to the President and European Affairs Mrs. Piki and Mrs. Raounas respectively.
– On Friday, November 21, at the Hilton Hotel, the President of the Republic and the Deputy Minister to the President participated in the Council of Presidents meeting, as well as the Cypriot Commissioner to the EU, Mr. Costas Kadis.
The Council of Presidents approved and issued the “Council of Presidents Nicosia Declaration” with six fundamental messages, which was delivered to Mr. Christodoulides and Mr. Kadis and is already being forwarded by BusinessEurope to the European Institutions.
— The text of the Tender is attached in both English and Greek.
- English: Nicosia Declaration – Council of Presidents
- DECLARATION OF THE NICOSIA MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS OF BUSINESSEUROPE TO THE CYPRUS PRESIDENCY
— Photographs of the various actions of the Summit are also attached.
