European Round Table of Industrialists

The European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) is a peak business association of around 40 members, who are 'Chairmen and Chief Executives of large multinational companies, representing all sectors of industry, which have their headquarters in Europe and also significant manufacturing and technological presence worldwide.' Membership is by invitation only. Almost all observers agree that the ERT is an immensely powerful body, which is well integrated into the EU machinery and has a key role in framing EU policies and directives.http://www.ert.be
The European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) was founded in Paris as a private circle of 17 European industrialists in 1983 to strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy on the world stage through 'improved dialogue between industry and government, at both national and European levels'.This article is based in part on Baby Milk Action Seeing Through the Spin, Appendix 15 Behind the Scenes, 2005 It now has 48 members. Its work covers a wide range of subjects, from education to liberalisation of the economies of developing countries. It was a major force behind closing the Uruguay Round and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). The ERT Members meet in Plenary Session twice a year. The Plenary Session determines the ERT work programme, sets priorities, votes budgets and decides on the publication of ERT reports and proposals. The decisions are taken by consensus. 
The ERT Chairman, two vice-Chairmen and five other elected Members form the Steering 
Committee. The Steering Committee reviews ERT activities and makes proposals to the 
Plenary Sessions. Each ERT Member nominates an Associate to act as a main point of liaison 
at working level and to help implement the decisions taken by Members. ERT Members 
nominate Press Officers who help coordinate ERT communications to national 
governments, EU institutions and the press. 
Much of the work is done by Working groups established by the Plenary Session. They are 
chaired by ERT Members and staffed by Members, Associates and experts from the ERT 
companies. Groups cover subjects such as education, employment, environment, 
competitiveness, the internal market, enlargement, taxation... 
The ERT identifies the most important issues, analyses the critical factors and makes its 
views known to the political decision-makers at national and European level by means of 
reports, position papers and face-to-face discussions. At European level, the ERT has 
contacts with the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Every 
six months the ERT meets with the government that holds the EU presidency to discuss 
priorities. At national level, each Member has personal contacts with his own national 
government and parliament, business colleagues and industrial federations, other opinion- 
formers and the press. 
The ERT has close contacts with UNICE (Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations 
of Europe), the official representative body of the European business and industry world vis- 
ÃƒÂ -vis the European institutions. This group discusses important non-sectoral trade issues 
and inter-regional partnerships from the perspective of global European companies and in 
the context of the global framework for business. ERT also supports the activity of the 
Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) and the Trans Atlantic Policy Network (TPN). 
In 1997 the ERT published a report, European Industry and the Developing World For a Global 
Framework of Mutual Interest and Trust: 
:ERT calls on governments, international organisations and private investors to intensify 
their discussions on setting up a new framework agreement that reflects the reality of 
global trading by developing countries. This contribution is based on practical experience 
and original research. The common objective is to establish a new and coherent set of 
global rules for international and local private investment. 
from the ERT website http://www.ert.be/
==People==
===Chairmen===
 
* 1983 - 1988: Pehr G. Gyllenhammar (Volvo)
* 1988 - 1992: Wisse Dekker (Philips)
* 1992 - 1996: Jérôme Monod (Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux)
* 1996 - 1999: Helmut Maucher (Nestlé)
* 1999 - 2001: Morris Tabaksblat (Reed Elsevier) (Unilever) 
* 2001 - 2005: Gerhard Cromme (ThyssenKrupp)
* 2005 - 2009: Jorma Ollila (Nokia)
* 2009 - : Leif Johansson (Volvo)
===Members===
*Chairman Jorma Ollila - Nokia
*Vice-Chairman Alain Joly - Air Liquide
*Paul Adams - British American Tobacco
Cesar Alierta Izuel - TelefÃƒÂ³nica
Nils S. Andersen - Carlsberg
Jean-Louis Beffa - Saint-Gobain
Wulf Bernotat - E.ON
*Peter Brabeck-Letmathe - Nestle
Martin Broughton - British Airways
*Antonio Brufau - Repsol YPF
*Antony Burgmans - Unilever
*Bertrand Collomb - Lafarge
*Gerhard Cromme - ThyssenKrupp
*Dimitris Daskalopoulos - Delta Holding
*Belmiro de Azevedo - SONAE, SGPS
*Thierry Desmarest - TOTAL
*BÃƒÂ¼lent EczacibaÃ…Å¸i - EczacibaÃ…Å¸i Group
*John Elkann - Fiat
*Jukka HÃƒÂ¤rmÃƒÂ¤lÃƒÂ¤ - StoraEnso
*Zsolt HernÃƒÂ¡di - MOL
*Franz Humer - F. Hoffmann-La Roche
*Daniel Janssen - Solvay
*Leif Johansson - Volvo
*Henning Kagermann - SAP
*Klaus Kleinfeld - Siemens
*Gerard Kleisterlee - Royal Philips Electronics
Thomas Leysen - Umicore
Gerard Mestrallet - Suez
Bernd Pischetsrieder - Volkswagen
Pasquale Pistorio - STMicroelectronics
Manuel Pizarro - Endesa
Eivind Reiten - Norsk Hydro
Kai-Uwe Ricke - Deutsche Telekom
John Rose - Rolls-Royce
Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer - OMV
Paolo Scaroni - Eni
Manfred Schneider - Bayer
Louis Schweitzer - Renault
Paul Skinner - Rio Tinto
Michael Smurfit - Smurfit Kappa Group
Peter Sutherland - BP
Jean-FranÃƒÂ§ois van Boxmeer - Heineken
*Jeroen van der Veer - Royal Dutch Shell
Ben Verwaayen - BT
Jacob Wallenberg - Investor AB
*Paul Walsh - Diageo
Hans Wijers - Akzo Nobel
*Secretary General Wim Philippa
== List of current members 2011 ==
* César Alierta Izuel - Telefónica
* Nils S. Andersen - A.P Moller-Maersk
* Paulo Azevedo - SONAE
* Franco Bernabè - Telecom Italia
* Carlo Bozotti - STMicroelectronics
* Peter Brabeck-Letmathe - Nestlé
* Svein Richard Brandtzaeg - Norsk Hydro
* David Brennan - AstraZeneca
* Antonio Brufau - Repsol YPF
* Vittorio Colao - Vodafone
* Gerhard Cromme - ThyssenKrupp
* Rodolfo De Benedetti - CIR
* Pierre-André de Chalendar - Saint-Gobain
* Christophe de Margerie - TOTAL
* Bülent Eczacibasi - Eczacibasi Holding
* John Elkann - FIAT
* Carlos Ghosn - Renault
* Jürgen Hambrecht - BASF
* Antti Herlin - KONE Corporation
* Zsolt Hernadi - MOL
* Franz Humer - F.Hoffman-La Roche
* Pablo Isla - Inditex
* Leif Johansson - Volvo
* Bruno Lafont - Lafarge
* Thomas Leysen - Umicore
* Ian Livingston - BT
* Peter Löscher - Siemens
* Gary McGann - Smurfit Kappa Group
* Gérard Mestrallet - GDF SUEZ
* Aloïs Michielsen - Solvay
* René Obermann - Deutsche Telekom
* Jorma Ollila - Nokia
* Dimitri Papalexopoulos - Titan Cement
* Paul Polman - Unilever
* Benoît Potier - Air Liquide
* Norbert Reithofer - BMW Group
* Wolfgang J. Ruttenstorfer - OMV
* Güler Sabanci - Sabanci Holding
* Paolo Scaroni - Eni
* Carl-Henric Svanberg - BP
* Johannes Teyssen - E.ON
* Jean-François van Boxmeer - Heineken
* Frans Van Houten - Royal Philips Electronics
* Ben Verwaayen - Alcatel-Lucent
* Peter R. Voser - Royal Dutch Shell
* Jacob Wallenberg - Investor AB
* Willie Walsh - IAG
* Hans Wijers - Akzo Nobel
* Brian Ager, Secretary GeneralSource: ERT.be
==Further Reading==
*Balanya et al. Europe Inc.:Regional and Global Restructuring and the Rise of Corporate Power, (London: Pluto Press, 2000)
*Michael Nollert and Nicola Fielder 'Lobbying for a Europe of big business: the European Roundtable of Industrialists' in State-building in Europe: The Revitalization of Western European Integration Edited by Volker Bornschier Print Publication Year: 2000 Online ISBN: 9780511559198 Hardback ISBN: 9780521781039 Paperback ISBN: 9780521786195 Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511559198.011 p. 187-209.
==Notes==
Category:Corporate Lobby Groups
Category:EU Corporate Lobby GroupsCategory:Europe