The CEO Alliance held its biannual meeting on 12 July 2023 in Södertälje and Stockholm, Sweden, hosted by Scania, bringing together leaders from the Alliance to discuss the green transition and European competitiveness in a changing world.
The event was attended by Christian Levin (CEO of Scania), Leonhard Birnbaum (CEO of E.ON), Erik Ekudden (Chief Technology Officer of Ericsson), Henrik Henriksson (CEO of H2 Green Steel), Agustín Delgado (Iberdrola), Peter Weckesser (Chief Digital Officer of Schneider Electric), and Anders Danielsson (CEO of Skanska). CEO Alliance members exchanged views with European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, and had a discussion over lunch with the Deputy Director-General for EU Affairs at the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office, Jan Olsson. The discussions were moderated by former EU Commissioner and Danish Minister Connie Hedegaard.
Program and agenda
Following a visit to the Scania Demo Centre, comprising test-driving of heavy-duty vehicles and a study-visit to Scania’s engine assembly factory in the morning, the key points on the agenda were:
- Welcome by Christian Levin and Connie Hedegaard, and an introductory discussion on topics to raise with the external speakers;
- Exchange of views with European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager (virtual participation);
- Lunch and exchange of views with Deputy Director-General for EU Affairs at the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office, Jan Olsson;
- Joint discussion on competitiveness, decarbonisation and resilience;
- Status update on joint projects, membership requests, next chairmanship and concluding remarks;
- Press meeting on the outcomes of the discussions and the policy paper on Green Industrial Policy.
Key outcomes
CEOs endorsed the CEO Alliance Policy Paper on A Green Industrial Policy for Europe, which was subsequently published on the website and shared with the press and key EU stakeholders.
CEOs also noted that EU policy should be driven by output rather than input, that digitalisation and innovation are key to decarbonisation, and that regulation of Artificial Intelligence must consider the potential benefits of the technology as well as its risks.
The external speakers called for the CEO Alliance to be more outspoken about EU policy, and asked for concrete input from the members on how to shape the EU’s policies in the upcoming legislative cycle.
Finally, CEOs endorsed Ericsson as the next chairman of the CEO Alliance for 2024, and decided the next CEO meeting will be hosted by Skanska in Copenhagen (tbc).
About the CEO Alliance: We are a cross-sector action tank consisting of 12 leading European companies representing key industry sectors, with ~1.6 million employees and ~EUR 560 billion annual revenue. We use our broad platform to make decarbonization of European industry happen. In spite of the challenging times we firmly believe that the only way forward for a competitive, prosperous, resilient and sustainable Europe is an acceleration of the transition to green energy and technology. Further information about our work is available on our website, www.ceo-alliance.eu.
