Key social issues for European business

European businessmen find themselves at the centre of a political debate which questions the existence of capitalism as we know it. Its critics would replace it or reform it by establishing a higher degree of state control or union control, by building protective trade barriers on a national or European level, and by arranging for a greater involvement of community interests in management decision-making.How should business leaders respond? Increasingly, business is becoming more ‘politicized’ and businessmen are putting their case personally, through industry and employer associations, and with the aid of external consultants and staff specialists in ‘Public Affairs’. The structures of business organizations are being changed to include representation by employees, consumers and other interests. And businesses are becoming involved in ‘social’ tasks like job creation and the provision of social services such as refuse collection, postal services, private education and private medicine. In this article, the authors trace the major social and political trends which have affected European business in the post-war period and identify the key social issues for businessmen in the 1980s.