Managers and Policymakers Gather in Milan to Shape Europe’s Innovation Agenda
On 5 and 6 June 2025, CEC European Managers gathered in Milan for two milestone events that underscored the organisation’s expanding role in shaping the future of European leadership.
Against the backdrop of accelerating digital and green transitions, CEC reaffirmed its commitment to empowering managers as key actors of transformation, both within their organisations and across Europe’s evolving socio-economic landscape.
The proceedings began with the CEC’s General Assembly on 5 June, hosted by the Italian member CIDA. During the Assembly, CEC welcomed a new national member: the UK-based Institute of Leadership.
Its CEO, John Mark Williams, addressed the members, stating,
Innovation is the result of ideas. Those ideas come from connection, and connection comes from leadership. We connect managers and leaders and foster innovation in leadership.
John Mark Williams
CEO, The Institute of Leadership
His words highlighted the shared European ambition to create a leadership culture that is collaborative, responsible, and forward-looking.
CEC President Maxime Legrand stressed the urgency of a strong managerial vision.
Climate, digitalisation, social cohesion… all these challenges require managers who lead with responsibility and vision.
Maxime Legrand
President CEC European Managers
The event also marked an important step toward gender-balanced leadership within the federation with the election of Helena Wallin from Sweden’s Ledarna as Treasurer and new Executive Board member.
Helena Wallin, New Elected Treasurer of CEC European Managers
The following day, on 6 June, CEC held its flagship conference on “Innovation and Sustainability: Managers for the Future of Europe” in the Testori Auditorium of Palazzo Lombardia, in partnership with CIDA and the Lombardy Region.
The event brought together over 200 managers and institutional stakeholders from across Europe to explore how leadership can drive sustainable growth and strategic renewal in Europe.
Marco Alparone, Vice President of the Lombardy Region, opened the conference by underlining the importance of linking policies on innovation, industry, and human capital.
We must support cross-cutting policies that integrate innovation, industry, and a skilled human capital. Lombardy is ready to play its part as an innovation hub, but European dialogue remains crucial to bridging existing gaps.
Marco Alparone
Vice President of the Lombardy Region
Speaking from Rome, CIDA President Stefano Cuzzilla reminded the audience that the value of innovation lies in its impact.
Innovation alone is not enough if it is not sustainable. Today we need a new kind of enterprise that responds not only to market demand but also to meaningful purpose. Our role is to act as a bridge between progress and social development.
Stefano Cuzzilla
CIDA Manager President
Tommaso Foti, Minister for European Policies, echoed this call for action.
Europe’s future depends on green and digital transition. Managers must become aware and proactive actors—not mere executors.
Tommaso Foti
Minister for European Policies of the Italian Government
This is how Foti emphasized the need to close the gap between technological development and its practical application in companies.
Valter Quercioli, President of Federmanager, emphasised the need for a unified managerial voice at the European level, and the role of CEC as an institutional interlocutor. “We firmly believe Europe needs a unified managerial voice—one that contributes to political debate and also influences policy implementation within companies. There are six fundamental areas where a stronger European managerial platform is essential, and CEC can serve as a structured and reliable interlocutor for European institutions: industrial policy and strategic autonomy, AI governance, green transition and ESG reporting, energy market reform, European managerial mobility, and contractual welfare in healthcare and pension schemes.”
During the conference, CEC presented its strategic priorities for the years ahead, focusing on digitalisation and artificial intelligence, European competitiveness through innovation, climate leadership paired with a just transition, and more substantial commitments to gender equality and diversity.
In his speech, President Maxime Legrand framed the conference as more than just an exchange of ideas: “We have gathered in Milan not just to share ideas, but to build a European vision of management: more responsible, sustainable, and human.”
General Secretary Torkild Justesen highlighted that sustainability must be considered both ecologically and organisationally, noting, “Sustainability is now a transversal requirement in modern workplaces—both ecologically and organisationally. At CEC, we view green transition as a competitive strength.”
Silvia Pugi, Deputy Secretary General, further underlined the essential function of management in shaping Europe’s future:
To ensure productivity and growth, Europe needs more innovation. At CEC, we work to make European managers leaders in the transformation, equipped with the right tools and skills for tomorrow’s challenges.
Silvia Pugi
CEC Deputy Secretary General
Milan’s Councillor for Economic Development, Alessia Cappello, reminded participants of the social responsibility embedded in leadership. “Managers play a decisive role in driving change—turning complexity into strategic vision and promoting equitable, inclusive, and responsible growth. Building a Europe capable of facing digital, ecological, and social challenges means remaining true to the values of democracy, justice, and cohesion.”
The conference featured two dynamic roundtables that brought together leading European managers, entrepreneurs, and experts to explore the concrete links between innovation, sustainability, and competitiveness.
The first roundtable focused on technology and production, showcasing how companies across different sectors — from advanced cable systems to fashion — are embedding sustainability into innovation processes. Christiana Scherzer (Prysmian), Cristina Tomasini (Green Transition Fund), Marco Guazzoni (Vibram), Torquild Jensen (Lederne/CEC), and François Hommeril (CFE-CGC) shared success stories and challenges in navigating the green and digital transitions.
The second roundtable addressed the equally vital theme of skills for competitiveness, highlighting the changing role of managers in an AI-driven and fast-evolving economic landscape. Speakers including Barbara Cominelli (JLL Italy), Francesca Moriani (The Group), Andreas Miller (Ledarna), and Maxime Legrand (CEC) explored how leadership, organisational models, and upskilling efforts must evolve to keep Europe at the forefront of sustainable innovation.
Both roundtables underlined a common message: managers must lead with agility, responsibility, and a deep human focus to drive Europe’s future success.
These two days in Milan confirmed CEC’s role not only as one of the six European social partners formally recognised by the European Commission, but as a vibrant community shaping the future of work, policy, and enterprise.
CEC European Managers now looks ahead to its following institutional engagements in Brussels. The vision shared in Milan remains clear: Europe needs managers who are more than decision-makers—they must be leaders in innovation, stewards of sustainability, and guardians of social cohesion.
You can rewatch the conference in English here:
