Brussels, 11/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Meeting as a group in Strasbourg on Tuesday 8 March, the EPP adopted a political declaration to improve the competitiveness of the European economy, focusing in particular on the competitiveness of small business (SMEs).
The declaration had been debated the previous week, on Thursday 3 March, in Cologne. The initiative came from the EPP's German delegation which, hosting the group meeting in Cologne, had proposed putting this point up for debate, a Parliamentary source says. “The declaration, which, when all is said and done, is somewhat vague, should not be seen in relation to a European timetable but rather to the place where the debate was held”, the source continued, stating that North Rhine-Westphalia is a highly industrialised region. The document should be seen as a political roadmap for the coming months and years. In it, the EPP Group develops a series of measures which address one after the other the European Commission's flagship initiatives, inter alia, the digital and single market strategies, energy union and capital markets union.
The text begins with the need to comply with the stability pact and to reduce sovereign debt as a matter of urgency. On this point, there was, surprisingly, general agreement, a source says, despite the widely differing national situations. Recently, the European Commission singled out France for its “excessive” macro-economic imbalance (see EUROPE 11507).
The EPP then stresses the need to observe the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, leaving monitoring of the goods market to the discretion of the member states and responsibility for strengthening the European Semester process to the Commission. On competition policy, it calls for EU law on unfair practices to be strictly applied.
In line with the single market strategy (see EUROPE 11417) and the strategy for digital single market (see EUROPE 11309), the EPP MEPs urge the member states to maintain the Schengen area, despite the refugee crisis. On the purely digital area, the group is adamant that geo-blocking must be countered, thereby putting it at odds with the business position (see EUROPE 11498).
Highlighting how little of European GDP is given over to research and development, the EPP MEPs want to encourage SMEs to become involved in research, by cutting red tape and making the regulatory framework more flexible (particularly in cases of bankruptcy). They call, too, for better articulation of the various European funding programmes and for the Commission to publish guidelines.
Access to financing occupies a large part of the declaration. Here the MEPs call for easier access to venture capital funding and for more small businesses to be active internationally. They also highlight the possibilities offered by cohesion policy (see other article).
Unsurprisingly, the group addresses at length retirement systems and labour markets. With regard to the former, it proposes indexing pension systems on the national demographic situation and increasing employment among older people. On labour markets, the EPP want to crack down on undeclared work, reduce social burdens, increase worker mobility by means of mutual recognition of qualifications, and promote a dual system of vocational training (along the lines of the German educational system) and lifelong learning.
Arguing that there must be efficient public administrations, the EPP calls for studies to be conducted systematically in advance of all new legislation to determine the impact on SMEs. They call, too, for full use to be made of e-government tools (see EUROPE 11491).
Last but not least, the document addresses energy costs. The EPP MEPs remain evasive, largely because of the debate taking place on the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) and the crisis in steel making, stating a goal of ensuring a “reasonable” energy price. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)