Brussels, 31/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Steel dialogue, programme on the competitiveness of the security sector, action plan for the construction industry, campaign for toy safety, programme on tourism: while most of his colleagues are on holiday, Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani will be there at the helm, with initiative after initiative to help maintain the EU's industrial fabric. “Ultimately, everything I do is to prevent any increase in unemployment”, he says.
Construction: exploiting the potential of “zero energy” buildings. On Tuesday 31 July, Industry Commissioner Tajani continued his presentation this week of a raft of initiatives to support the EU's industrial base, revealing a strategy for the competitiveness of the construction industry. Construction is a key sector for the European economy since it makes up 10% of the GDP, including - in addition to construction firms - manufacturers of building products, architects, engineers and others involved, and creates 20 million jobs, particularly in micro and small businesses.
The European construction industry has been hit by the economic and financial crisis and is suffering from the low demand on both the private residential and infrastructure markets. Reeling from the effects of the crisis, the bursting of the property bubble, contraction of the credit market, the lack of qualified labour and unfair competition on international markets, the sector has seen a 17% fall in work in the EU between January 2008 and April 2012.
The Commission strategy seeks first and foremost to improve investment conditions in particular in the renovation and maintenance of buildings and infrastructures, by promoting financial instruments, such as loan guarantees or project bonds, and encouraging national level incentives, such as reduced VAT rates. The Commission is also looking to use the €120 million in loans from the EIB as part of the “Pact for Growth and Employment” agreed in June. Priority, it states, will be given to refurbishment and the energy performance of buildings, an area where there is rich potential for creating possibly up to a million new jobs by 2020.
The strategy also involves boosting innovation and improving labour qualifications and mobility, and also improving resource efficiency and environmental performance, promoting mutual recognition of sustainable construction systems in the EU. A further avenue for action is in providing standard design codes of practice for construction companies making it easier for them to work in other member states. Finally, the Commission wants to foster the global position of European construction enterprises to stimulate good performances and sustainable standards in third countries.
A high-level forum will be organised with the member states and sectoral representatives to oversee the implementation of the strategy and make recommendations.
Preparing a steel action plan. On Monday, Tajani opened a dialogue with steel industry stakeholders in order to improve the competitiveness of a sector that, too, has been hit hard by the crisis. It saw its annual production tumble from 9.38 million tonnes in 2006 to 5.9 million tonnes in 2009, before climbing back up to 7.5 million tonnes in 2010, according to figures from the Eurfer association. Tajani and representatives of Europe's major steel-making groups (Arcelor-Mittal, ThyssenKrupp) and Eurofer, the European Steel Association, held an initial discussion on the challenges facing the sector, in terms of access to raw materials, fair competition, the environmental impact, and innovation, in relation to the opportunities provided by improving Europe's infrastructure network and the development of the green economy. This working group will draft recommendations which will lay the foundations of an action plan for the updating of the sector.
Cars: French aid plan acceptable. Over this summer period, Tajani does not have his work to seek. After setting out his programme on Monday for expanding the security sector in Europe, a market already worth €35 billion (see EUROPE 10666), the commissioner will, on Thursday, present a campaign on toy safety and a programme for tourism.
On Monday, Tajani, who, in June, promised to deliver an action plan for the car industry by October, with initiatives in particular on innovation, opening up markets and putting smart regulation in place (see EUROPE 10629), also had to respond to questions from the press on the French support plan for the automotive sector, which was presented last week and which contains a state financial incentive for private cars. “For the moment, I have not seen anything that contravenes EU laws. I don't see any contradiction between the French plan and what I support”, he said. (EH/transl.rt)