Special Report: Businessmen more hopeful than politicians over growth

"The businessmen are more optimistic than the politicians," according to Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, who said: "If the survey had been conducted with politicians the outcome would have been different. The politicians are gloomy because we can survive and modernise or we can be blocked from action which is where we are at the moment."

"The activity rate of business is operating at only 75% capacity which is not one where we can be competitive," Orbán explained, saying: "What is needed is leadership. At the moment – without naming specific countries –  leadership is fragmented all over the EU."

"I have to underline the human factor. The Germans are successful [at the moment] because they are reasonable and have adjusted to the crisis. The Hungarians and others do not behave rationally and delay their adjustment. The human factor is to take reality into consideration sooner," concluded Orbán.

"If you look at the survey then you have to conclude that Europe is an attractive market and that is an advantage we cannot lose," according to Pierre Nanterme, CEO of Accenture. He said: "The number one challenge facing the continent is to secure growth, because growth will of itself solve so many of the other issues."

"There are a few things Europe needs to get right," said Nanterme, explaining: "It needs to integrate its markets globally. We need not to fear global markets but to realise that they offer opportunities. We also need bigger companies which can foster SMEs around them."

"Let's put the next generation at the centre of everything that we do. We are not making changes for us, after all, we are making them for that generation, and for the coming decades," Nanterme concluded.

"We need to focus on countries having problems in the euro zone," said Vincent Van Quickenborne (Flemish Liberals), the Belgian minister for enterprise and the simplification of administration.

He explained: "In some places people are getting nervous because they fear that the underling structural changes that need to be put into place may not happen – such as privatisation in Greece – but these things need to be done."

He too pointed to the need for leadership, saying: "When you have politicians with vision then labour markets and pensions changes can come."

"There are three observations that I would make after my brief period in Europe," said Dipak Jain, the recently appointed dean of INSEAD business school. "First there has to be a focus on education, there are foundations but no uniform approach within the EU. Secondly a sense of entrepreneurial spirit needs emphasis, but thirdly there is a sense of entitlement amongst workers," he explained.

"It is always easy to say that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but maybe on the other side they are taking better care of their grass."

Jain said that Europe's key advantage lay in its diversity: "The EU is more diverse than the other continents, you need to build on that."

"My key message from the findings [of the Accenture survey] is that each area – even within Europe – needs to be looked at in its own terms," said Mark Spelman of Accenture.

He added: "Europe should not be looked at as one homogeneous mass, in the same way as it is wrong when people talk about China in clear terms – whereas China itself has clear divisions: between Shanghai and Beijing for example is another world from the area north of Beijing."

"The underlying growth figures however are heartening," said Speelman, adding: "I think that the world economy has demonstrated great resilience given how many crises – from the economic shock to the nuclear crisis in Fukushima."

"We are here today (18 May) to highlight the growing split in the EU business community between those companies who support the green economy and further action on climate change and those companies blocking that action, putting at risk millions of green jobs," said Ruth Davis, chief policy advisor for Greenpeace UK, explaining why the NGO had organised the demonstration.

She added: "The doors in the building are not open because we do not intend for climate laggards – those who are blocking action on climate change – to get into this building."