Brussels, 10/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Competitiveness Council wants to see an adequate implementation of the action plan in favour of a European industrial sector which is struggling as the result of crisis and competition.
Meeting in Brussels on 10 December, the European industry ministers lent their support to the action plan in favour of the car industry, which was presented by the Commission in November, and which is based around four pillars: (1) investing in advanced technologies and the funding of innovation; (2) a consolidated internal market and more favourable regulations; (3) international competitiveness; and (4) investments in human resources and attenuating the social consequences of restructuring.
Their conclusions on the industrial policy call for an “adequate” implementation of the action plan of Commissioner Antonio Tajani. The actions put in place for the short term must prioritise European financial support to R&D and innovation, assessing the impact on competitiveness of any new rules, negotiating well-balanced free-trade agreements wherever the car industry is involved, and actions aiming to facilitate structural changes in a sector where a drop in sales on almost all European markets has been exacerbated by a structural problem of overcapacity.
Although several member states argued for the restructuring decision to be left up to market forces, the Commission and several member states laid emphasis on the European dimension of the problem of overcapacity and on the need to act at European level. Any action would have to do comply with the rules on state aid, but the social consequences of closing factories should be kept to a minimum. On Monday, Commissioner Tajani argued in favour of a task-force on the monitoring of the principal effects of factory closures or staff cuts to rationalise the social funds of the EU. (EH/transl.fl)