Brussels, 07/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The case “for improved coordination not only of taxation policies but also of industrial and business competitiveness policies” was made by European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani in a speech delivered Paris on Thursday 6 January. “It is only by laying uncoordinated national approaches to one side that Europe can become the sum of its component parts and come out a winner in the growth stakes,” he argued.
Speaking at the “Nouveau Monde, Nouveau Capitalisme” symposium, Industry Commissioner Tajani said that the EU had to “return to an economic model based on real growth of the real economy” and stated that he had devoted the first year of his term of office to “putting the real economy back at the heart of our concerns”.
He said that “to launch a new strategy for growth, we have to act differently: we have to turn away from the comfortable 'Business as usual'. We have to re-centre political effort on improving the competitiveness of our businesses. We have to make our industrial system more efficient and, here in Europe, stimulate entrepreneurship and promote a spirit of innovation.” To this end, he pointed out, he had launched “a new approach to industrial policy, since industry is one of the main factors of modernisation, increasing productivity and technological progress in general”. Policies can “make a contribution by improving framework conditions and, therefore, above all, cutting red tape for our businesses, especially small and medium-sized companies”. However, transport, energy and communications infrastructure have to move, too. It is good “to help our SMEs grow and become international so that they can take advantage of global markets”.
While “the competitiveness of businesses, whatever their size and their sector, has to be promoted”, intellectual property has also to be protected, and our markets shielded from goods which do not comply with our consumer protection rules. “I am also considering,” Tajani announced, “whether to take steps to protect our strategic assets and to defend out strategic interests”: security - in space, too (it is for that reason that the European Union continues to invest in the Galileo satellite navigation system); rare earth minerals, the availability of which is crucial to European industries (at the end of the month, the Commission will launch an initiative in this area); cutting edge technological know-how (“It's not about refusing any foreign direct investment in Europe. Quite the opposite. But we have to make sure that the benefits of investment in European innovation remain in Europe.”).
Tajani concluded by saying he was convinced in the view that “it is no longer possible to think only in terms of national markets and national economic policies. The European level at least has to be taken into consideration”. (Com-Gp./transl.rt)