Brussels, 11/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Hoping to tackle the “unexplored economic potential of EU competitiveness”, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has reached the conclusion that the European project Galileo would finally provide a solution that is sufficiently good to be emulated by other sectors. It is at least a proposal that deserves to be looked at, mainly for the major trans-European infrastructure networks, states an EESC opinion adopted during the plenary session on Wednesday 10 July.
The following question was raised at the EESC by the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers: How can public companies contribute to growth and how can they be reformed in order to make them more effective? This is not about proposing a new legislative framework at the level of the EU but triggering reflection in common. This appears necessary as, as Raymond Hencks of Luxembourg, the EESC rapporteur, puts it: “There are no methods of evaluation at either national or EU level” regarding the effectiveness of this kind of company. “We need a scientific method of evaluation, with Europe-wide norms, to find out how these companies function, before we can look to economic recovery”, he said in a press release.
The EESC also looked at another issue that is different albeit linked to the first. The Galileo programme already provides an example of a “de facto EU public enterprise”, so why envisage doing the same thing elsewhere, the rapporteur asks. There is a “European Company” status already but it is for private companies. According to Henckx, without sectors of general interest, such as energy and transport, the potential benefits, which argue in favour of the creation of “European public enterprises” are obvious. Common management of resources and supply security are but two examples of this. (JK/transl.jl)