Brussels, 15/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, the commissioner designate to take over from Italy's Antonio Tajani as European commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, enjoyed a successful hearing before the European Parliament's industry committee (ITRE) during the evening of Monday 14 July.
In front of a general appreciative auditorium, former Italian permanent representative to the EU Feroci promised to continue the work of his predecessor in a “constructive dialogue” with MEPs. “Parliament's contribution to the EU's re-industrialisation strategy is crucial”, he stated. “I appreciate the readiness of the commissioner designate to conduct his work in an open and transparent dialogue”, said ITRE committee chair, Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland).
In his introductory message, Feroci underlined his intention to launch the preparatory work “as of now” for the next Commission's presentation of the roadmap that was requested by the European Council in March to place the EU's industrial base at the centre of the European economy again. This document, which is expected for the start of 2015, will be organised around four main areas, Feroci stated - market access (internal market and third country markets), access to resources (access to credit and access to primary resources and energy), innovation (by concentrating on key technologies and clean technologies), and the quality of the regulation. Feroci also committed to continuing Tajani's endeavours to put the principles of the Small Business Act fully into action. For this, Feroci said that he was going to suggest to the next Commission that they should plan on proposing legislation to implement specific objectives for reducing costs for SMEs. Lastly, Feroci reiterated the Commission's commitment to developing plans to boost certain key sectors of European industry (steel, automobiles, shipbuilding) and to support the space industry.
Answering questions from Krisjanis Karins (EPP, Latvia), Reinhard Bütikofer (Greens/EFA, Germany), and Marek Jozef Grobarczyk (ECR, Poland) on his vision for the balance to be struck between energy and climate objectives and industrial competitiveness goals, Feroci always came across as very able. He promised to highlight the competitiveness aspect of the 2030 energy/climate package (the objectives of which must be decided by the European Council in October) while taking account of the sustainability objectives. “The next emissions trading scheme will ensure that the energy-intensive industries are preserved and guaranteed their survival by putting them out of the system. I commit to following the preparation of the legislative texts closely - texts which will be needed to implement the new objectives on reduction in order to avoid useless burdens or red-tape for industry in Europe”, he answered Grobarczy (our translation). Answering the concerns of Dan Nica (S&D, Romania), Feroci also committed to assessing, with the co-legislators by the end of his possible mandate, the three issues on the negotiating table - market surveillance and product safety; the regulation on harmonising motor vehicles; and the e-Call emergency call mechanism. Lastly, responding to Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL, Greece), Feroci promised to be “vigilant” with regard to decisions likely to impact on SMEs as part of the TTIP trade negotiations between the EU and USA. (EH)