Brussels, 22/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is focusing on immediate measures for the 28 EU member states to take in order to strengthen the EU's industrial base and to bring a 20% contribution to GDP.
Through a communication adopted on 22 January, which contains areas for action, the Commission urges the European Parliament and Council to mobilise for an industrial renaissance in Europe. The idea is for urgent measures to be taken in order to lend a helping hand to a manufacturing sector that is both strong in global exports of its products with strong value added, and behind in the face of fierce global competition and rising energy prices for its traditional industry products. Issues of industrial competitiveness should be integrated in all areas of policy action.
“I don't believe in economic fatalism that would condemn our industries to being less competitive than those of our partners”, said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who had come to support the proposals of European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani. “What we need is a political response”, he said, calling on the member states to seize this issue and “to take concrete decisions” at the next European summit on 20-21 March.
In the Commission's view, the crisis has shown up the importance of a solid industrial base in order to resist economic pressure. Far from being confined to manufacturing, industry interacts with the whole European economic fabric - be it for raw materials and energy, business services (for example, logistics), consumer services (for example, after-sales service for durable goods) or tourism, the Commission states. Industry accounts for over 80% of Europe's exports and private R&D and innovation, and it counts for nearly 25% of jobs in the private sector, with a knock-on effect of creating 0.5-2 jobs in other sectors. However, its contribution to EU GDP has continued to decline, standing at 15.1% in the summer of 2013. This is a long way from the 20% target for 2020 put forward by the Commission in 2012.
Among the courses of action to take as part of an integrated approach, the Commission gives top priority to vital access to public and private finance, and especially to European funding. In order to support investment and innovation, the Commission advocates the deployment and implementation of EU financial instruments under the COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes, and the structural funds (€100 billion at least from regional funds). It also recommends a return to normal loan conditions for the real economy, with the EIB putting more emphasis on industrial products and loans for innovation.
The Commission also urges the member states to address the recurrent issue of red tape blocking and slowing the creation and development of businesses, through simplification of the regulatory framework and improvement of the effectiveness of the public administration at European, national and regional levels.
Measures are also recommended to optimise the potential of the single market - both by completing the services market and by developing the necessary infrastructure in transport and telecommunications. In addition, measures are recommended to support access to raw materials and energy.
On the external level, the Commission recommends initiatives to facilitate the integration of European companies, particularly SMEs, into global value chains, and to ensure them access to global markets in more favourable conditions - especially through free-trade agreements.
Lastly, the Commission calls for the environmental dimension not to be neglected. “We can organise the marriage between industrial policy and environmental policy”, Tajani said on Wednesday, shortly after the Commission proposed doubling the EU's objective of reducing carbon emissions from 20 to 40% by 2030 in order to pursue its climate policy. “The cost of energy is a big problem that must be resolved by more Europe, with a strongly committed climate policy”, he added, calling for priority investment in biotechnology products and green vehicles. (EH/transl.fl)