Brussels, 18/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 July, Milan will host a meeting of European industry ministers, at an informal session of the Competitiveness Council under the Italian Presidency.
The revival of the European manufacturing industry will be central to the talks, on the basis of the integrated strategy tabled by the Commission in January to reinforce the industrial base of the EU and which glories in the name of “industrial renaissance”. At its March meeting, the European Council agreed to use as its basis the integrated strategy proposed by the Commission (see EUROPE 11042). The key objective of this strategy, to be championed this semester by the Italian Presidency, is to increase the share of the manufacturing sector, which has fallen to 15% over the last 10 years, to 20% of EU GDP by 2020.
The work, which will be chaired by the minister for economic development, Federica Guidi, will be based around the question of the horizontal approach (mainstreaming) for the industrial policy, taking account of all policies and instruments with a bearing on the competitiveness of EU industry. In the morning, the first working session will be devoted to the roadmap for the integrated approach, with a contribution from Commissioner designate for Industry and Enterprise Ferdinando Nelli Feroci. Two further working sessions will look at the sectoral and dimensional aspects of this approach: the first will be chaired by Maltese Minister for the Economy, Investment and SMEs Christian Cardona, and the second by Luxembourg Minister for Economic Affairs Etienne Schneider. Over lunch, the ministers will discuss the working methods of the Competitiveness Council in this regard, with a contribution from German Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Rainer Baake. (EH)