Brussels, 16/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider has set out the programme of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council for the European Parliament's industry committee (ITRE). During his speech and in the debate that followed, the minister several times referred to his unhappiness at the letter sent to him by Internal Market and Industry Policy Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska.
“Personally, I would have hoped that the Commission present a real industrial 'road note' containing definite initiatives and set deadlines, as requested by the European Council of March 2014. The letter sent by Commissioner Bienkowska on this matter does not fully satisfy me”, he stated (our translation). He is indirectly criticising the Commission for its lack of ambition and explicitly for its lack of detail. The letter, a copy of which has been obtained by EUROPE, is a four-page summary of the action undertaken by the Commission since it took up office, with nine pages appended on the main initiatives currently being undertaken but with few clear timelines.
In his speech, Schneider set out the Luxembourg priorities made public on 3 July (see EUROPE 11358): - having the internal market for goods and services package adopted; - taking industry into the 4.0 age, and engaging in sectoral policies (particularly steel and automotive); - improving SME access to financing, for example, through revision of the small business act - on this, the minister announced a major conference of SMEs to be held in Luxembourg in November; - improving the quality of European legislation as part of the Refit programme; - finalising the directive on business confidentiality; - continuing the updating of copyright; - reforming the way the Competitiveness Council works (with the establishment of a check-up of competitiveness in Europe prior to every meeting); - continuing talks on the future relationship between the EU and the European Space Agency at an informal Council - “the first in four years”.
In the space domain, it was clear that the minister regretted the Commission's withdrawal of the directive on the dissemination of satellite data (see EUROPE 11349), humorously wondering if the Commission had taken the decision with the sole purpose of marking the start of the Luxembourg Presidency. (Pascal Hansens)