{
  "id": 8019697,
  "title": "How can Europe achieve its growth potential?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/how-can-europe-achieve-its-growth-potential",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-17T11:29:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/17/how-can-europe-achieve-its-growth-potential-microsoft-volvo-mastercard-logitech-honeywell/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Despite the substantial size and longevity of Europe's largest businesses, they are finding it difficult to match the growth rates of U.S. companies. While the combined revenues of Fortune 500 European firms increased by 4% to $15.5 trillion, profits rose by just 3% to $1 trillion. In contrast, their U.S. counterparts saw profits rise by 12.4% and revenue grow by 5.4%. At the Fortune CEO Forum in London, European business leaders discussed strategies to boost growth.\n\nSamer Abu-Ltaif, Microsoft Europe's president, noted that Europe's talent, trust, and commitment to responsible innovation are valuable assets. However, he suggested a need to reform the regulatory framework to become more supportive of innovation rather than overly restrictive.\n\nNicole Melillo, Volvo UK's managing director, emphasized that Europe's growth potential lies in its sustainability agenda. Volvo is committed to addressing carbon emissions, and Melillo believes that collaboration with other manufacturers can lead to a positive outcome.\n\nKelly Devine, Mastercard Europe's president, highlighted the importance of fostering innovation from the university-educated talent pool in Europe. Retaining this talent and providing the necessary support for entrepreneurs to scale their businesses is crucial.\n\nSir Alex Chisholm, EDF's U.K. chair, pointed out that high energy costs are a major obstacle to European competitiveness. He advocated for addressing this issue to improve energy security and overall competitiveness, while also creating a sustainable future for Europe.\n\nHanneke Faber, Logitech's CEO, emphasized Europe's strengths in engineering, innovation, and education. To boost growth, Faber stressed the need to improve productivity, with AI offering significant potential across various functions. She mentioned that AI has played a crucial role in Logitech's operating expenses and expects further growth in this area.\n\nAnant Maheshwari, Honeywell's president and CEO for global regions, noted that European companies are grappling with energy costs, security, and sustainability challenges. However, Europe already leads in renewable energy sources, and there is strong support for exploring new technologies. He believes that Europe's focus on life sciences, healthcare, aerospace, and defense will create positive cycles of growth and development.\n\nFinally, Pip White, Anthropic's head of U.K. & Ireland, argued that the primary obstacle to Europe's growth is the limited mandate for CEOs and boards to embrace AI technology. He suggested that organizations should focus on understanding the full potential of AI and implement whole-scale transformations to harness these new opportunities.",
  "summary": "Business leaders from Microsoft, Volvo, EDF, and Mastercard outline the challenges and opportunities facing companies in Europe",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}