Brussels, 09/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - MEPs at the European Parliament are calling on the European Commission to unveil a coherent strategy as soon as possible on an industrial policy to re-industrialise the European continent. This is one of the keynote demands of a resolution on competitiveness in the European rail stock sector adopted in the last day of the plenary in Strasbourg on Thursday 9 June.
The MEPs say the EU re-industrialisation strategy should be based on sustainability and energy and resource efficiency and be organised by sector, incorporating strong, vertical industrial production measures within the EU. On the initiative of Martina Werner (S&D, Germany), rapporteur for the resolution, the MEPs considered the situation in the rail stock sector to put this question on the table, feeling that the European Commission's re-industrialisation measures few and far between.
Sluggish support for rail industry. Werner says the implementation of European research programmes is a “catastrophe”, citing the case of Shift2rail - a public-private partnership programme for investment in railway innovation (see EUROPE 11101), which took two years to become operational, as stated by a number of MEPs during an oral question to the question before the vote on the resolution. The MEPs call on the Commission to set up a structure to facilitate exchanges between established companies and start-ups in the sector. They also want a European training and education strategy to deal with the shortage of qualified labour and moot the idea of a European skills council for the railways.
Debate focuses on competition from China. Over and above the internal market, the MEPs pointed the finger at unfair practices from international competitors, particularly China. “We must not repeat the mistakes made by the steel industry”, said the German MEP, referring to the rout of the European steel industry in the wake of overproduction capacities in China (see EUROPE 11558 and 11551). Édouard Martin (S&D, France), who is particularly active on the sensitive issue of steel (see EUROPE 11558), followed in her wake, citing the call for tender for the high-speed rail line between Belgrade and Budapest, which was grabbed by the Chinese. More generally, the MEPs deplored that the European market was open to all-comers whereas the Chinese, US and Japanese markets are inaccessible, and they called on the Commission to ensure reciprocity, a recurring problem, particularly decried in the space sector (see separate article).
Bienkowska's absence did not go unnoticed. Many MEPs, such as Nadine Morano (EPP, France), regretted the absence of Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska from the debates that same morning. Some commentators said the choice of sending Christos Stylianides, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, to replace her was a mystery - they would have preferred Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc or Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)