European Round Table of Industrialists
The European Round Table of Industrialists, (ERT), is a lobby group in the European Union consisting of some 50 European industrial leaders working to strengthen the political position of big business in Europe. The group works at both national and European levels, and has been especially successful in influencing the making of EU policies.
The roots of the European Round Table of Industrialists date back to the early 1980s. At the initiative of Pehr G. Gyllenhammar, the CEO of Volvo, 17 European businessmen[1] met in the Paris boardroom of Volvo on 6 and 7 April 1983. They envisioned to create an organisation, which would be able to convey its message about the state of the economy to the European political leaders.
The meeting in Paris was attended by Pehr G. Gyllenhammar (Volvo), Karl Beurle (Thyssen), Carlo De Benedetti (Olivetti), Curt Nicolin (ASEA), Harry Gray (United Technologies), John Harvey-Jones (ICI), Wolfgang Seelig (Siemens), Umberto Agnelli (Fiat), Peter Baxendell (Shell), Olivier Lecerf (Lafarge), José Bidegain (Cie de St Gobain), Wisse Dekker (Philips), Antoine Riboud (BSN), Bernard Hanon (Renault), Louis von Planta (Ciba-Geigy) and Helmut Maucher (Nestlé). Both François-Xavier Ortoli and Étienne Davignon from the European Commission attended the meeting.
From early on, ERT policy supported EU enlargement. It promoted and often led business dialogues between the EU and business circles in the US and in Japan as well as in developing countries.
Contents
Current Members (2019)
As can be expected from such an exclusive lobbying group[2], there is a significant overlap with Bilderberg. Remember that there has been a lot of overlap over the years including now retired members of both networks. (Active/blue links to other Wikispooks pages essentially mean they have been to one or more Bilderberg conferences).
Chairman
AB Volvo Sweden
Vice-Chairmen
HEINEKEN The Netherlands
Titan Cement Greece
Past Chairman
Air Liquide France
Members
Norsk Hydro Norway
L'Oréal France
MOL Hungary
Telefónica Spain
AkzoNobel The Netherlands
Sonae Portugal
Barilla Group Italy
Royal Dutch Shell The Netherlands
BASF Germany
Nestlé Switzerland
Saint-Gobain France
ENGIE France
Centrica United Kingdom
Rolls-Royce United Kingdom
CIR Italy
Eni Italy
voestalpine Austria
KONE Finland
Ericsson Sweden
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Switzerland
Iberdrola Spain
Capgemini France
Deutsche Telekom Germany
Royal Philips The Netherlands
Inditex Spain
Rio Tinto United Kingdom
LafargeHolcim Switzerland
AstraZeneca United Kingdom
Solvay Belgium
Siemens Germany
thyssenkrupp Germany
BMW Group Germany
Proximus Belgium
Umicore Belgium
BP United Kingdom
AB Volvo Sweden
SAP Germany
Wolters Kluwer The Netherlands
Michelin France
ArcelorMittal United Kingdom
Merck Group Germany
Ferrovial Spain
Total France
Leonardo Italy
Vodafone Group United Kingdom
Orange France
Techint Group of Companies Italy
Sabanci Holding Turkey
Renault France
Nokia Finland
A.P. Møller-Mærsk Denmark
Smurfit Kappa Group Ireland
E.ON Germany
Henkel Germany
Investor AB Sweden
Rating