Brussels, 07/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Italian Presidency - which took up the reins of the EU Council of Ministers on 1 July - is making the industrial renaissance strategy (backed by Italy's European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani) the focus of its action for the following six months - with special attention being paid to SMEs. The Italian Presidency programme also accords an important place to the defence industry and market.
The Italian Presidency's top priority until December is to assess the implementation of the integrated strategy (grandly named the Industrial Renaissance) that was tabled by the European Commission in January - alongside the new 2030 framework for energy and climate policies (see EUROPE 11002) - to strengthen the EU's industrial base. It was at its meeting in March that the European Council agreed to support the integrated strategy proposed by the Commission (see EUROPE 11042).
During its six-month term of office, the Italian Presidency wants to promote an integrated approach between all industrial policies and the instruments that have an impact on the competitiveness of EU industry. The Presidency also wants to ensure that the Competitiveness Council deals with microeconomic aspects of the EUROPE 2020 strategy and strengthens the role of the high-level group on competitiveness and growth. Furthermore, the Presidency is also encouraging the full implementation of the Small Business Act for SMEs.
As part of the Industrial Renaissance, the Italian Presidency wants to focus its efforts on industries in transition and on horizontal engines for developing a cutting edge manufacturing system - such as key enabling technologies (KETs), breakthrough technologies and growth markets.
As regards the defence industry, the Italian Presidency will assess progress in implementing the Council conclusions of December 2013 and the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Council of November 2013 on the smooth functioning of the defence market - conclusions which advocated openness, fair treatment, transparency and opportunities for all European suppliers.
Making reference to the Commission communication of July 2013 (see EUROPE 10894), the Presidency wants to promote better access for SMEs to defence markets, to security markets and to R&D markets, and to support the development of value chains in the defence industry. The Italian Presidency will encourage the member states and European Defence Agency to submit proposals on how to promote regional networks and strategic clusters, and on the financial options to support SMEs. In addition, it will encourage the member states to continue investing in R&D - particularly by maximising the synergies between national investment and European investment and between civil research and military research, as well as identifying relevant R&D themes that can be financed as part of the Commission's preparatory action.
In its work programme, the Italian Presidency also announces that it will work on implementing a European framework improving the reciprocal use of research for dual use applications (civil and military) - including the results on the KETs stemming from the Horizon 2020 initiative.
Lastly, the Presidency wants to encourage the cooperation mechanism in the defence industry in the context of the taskforce on industry and the defence market, and it will assess the progress in implementing relevant legislation and regulation on the transfer of defence products - laying the emphasis on improving the effectiveness of checks by the member states. (EH)