The outgoing chairman of BP is taking over the chairmanship of the European Round Table of Industrialists, which represents the views of Europe’s top 50 business leaders to governments and the EU.
Carl-Henric Svanberg said the group needed to “step up [its] game” and defend the European values of tolerance and free trade.
Mr Svanberg steps down from BP at the end of this year, handing over a role he took on just before the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, requiring him to guide the company through the financial and reputational turmoil that followed.
Mr Svanberg, who formally assumes the leadership role on Monday, told the Financial Times on Friday that while there were “no politicians who are not willing to meet [ERT] members”, the group needed to give a more focused and clearer message.
He said it was time for business to lead by example and not just provide politicians with a “wish list” of priorities.
The ERT brings together 54 chief executives and chairmen of leading multinational companies doing business in Europe, and covers a range of industrial and technology sectors. The companies represented in the organisation have combined revenues of more than €2.25tn.
The body is seen as one of the most effective influencers of policy in the corporate world. Although it has been criticised for sometimes failing to speak out publicly on controversial issues, in general the group’s members prefer to use their influence behind the scenes at high-level meetings with senior ministers and civil servants.
“In Europe and the US you see more frustration with companies that are growing without really creating jobs, and we see growing populism seeking to bring simple answers,” said Mr Svanberg, who will turn 66 on Tuesday. He also chairs Volvo Group, the Swedish truckmaker, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
“I think it’s the time now business leaders to step up and talk about and defend Europe’s values of openness and tolerance and free trade. This is the time to step up our game.”
Mr Svanberg takes over from the current chairman Benoît Potier, chairman and chief executive of France’s Air Liquide.
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Mr Svanberg, who was born in Porjus, a village in the Arctic Circle, and moved house 10 times before he was 15, told the FT last month that his leadership hero was Nelson Mandela.
Although he drew criticism for BP’s initial, faltering response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 men and spilled at least 3m barrels of oil, he has gradually won over investors during his tenure.
In April Mr Svanberg said that, in the wake of the disaster, he called every BP board member daily for 100 days to keep them informed and solicit views.
He joined BP from Ericsson, the Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer, where he was chief executive for six years, leading a successful turnround after the dotcom bubble burst. The turnround came with the cost of losing tens of thousands of jobs.
Before Ericsson, he was chief executive of Assa Abloy, the world’s largest lock manufacturer.
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