Brussels, 13/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elzbieta Bienkowska, has confirmed that she will present a roadmap to boost European industry during the first quarter of 2015. She made a statement during a conference on industrial renaissance, organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC) and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Wednesday 12 November (EUROPE 11195).
Road map. Industry is not expected to become the new European Commission's poor cousin. Bienkowska focused her first public intervention since her nomination on this centre of activity and said in no uncertain terms that it was time to, “get Europe back to work… industry is not a problem for Europe, quite the contrary!” She expressed her firm desire to present a “comprehensive roadmap” for European industry by the beginning of 2015, which was expected to contain, “a series of concrete actions”. Bienkowska expressed a wish to develop a modern, pragmatic and focused industrial policy and said that her leitmotiv would be to, “accelerate and integrate”. She also explained that the 20% target of the EU's GDP as a contribution by industry by 2020 was relative and did not constitute a goal in itself but mainly sought to create and protect jobs in Europe.
Four possibilities. The strategy she intends to unveil over the next few months is expected to be based on strengthening the internal market. There will be particular emphasis on fully opening up the services market (business, construction, trade) and effectively applying rules on the single market in goods. The roadmap is also expected to focus on affordable access to energy, raw materials and skills. Bienkowska denounced the record energy prices in Europe, as well as Europe's dependency on energy and raw materials. According to the Commissioner, sustainability and competitiveness can go together. Finally, the roadmap is expected to develop an innovation-friendly (smart specialisation strategy, see other article) and business framework. In this connection, she promised to focus on the simplification and predictability of the legislative framework and revive the “Small Business Act”, the action plan promoting the expansion of small and medium-sized European enterprises.
Clarification. Similarly to during her hearing at the European Parliament, Bienkowska referred to her intention to relaunch the “Car 2020” process, improve application of the 'REACH' directive framing the authorisation procedures for chemical products and proceed to a construction sector scoreboard. (MD)