The 1970s were a defining moment for the European business associations, which were faced with the most important social upheavals of the post-war period, a major economic crisis and the British process of accession to the EEC. This article aims to broaden our knowledge of how Swiss business leaders contributed, during this tumultuous period, to lead the European institutions towards further economic liberalisation. This article intends to demonstrate that their main strategy to promote their own interests was to rely on and even accentuate the contradictions between the main European business circles. Moreover, this article aims to highlight the gradual emergence, during the period, of a bloc of European employers and to investigate the role of the main Swiss trade association in what has been known as the ‘neoliberal turn’.