The European Commission has placed the strengthening of the industrial fabric at the head of its priorities for 2017, judging by the final version of its work programme published on Tuesday 3 January. The mention given to this issue, however, may only partially respond to the expectations of the member states and European Parliament, which have long been calling for a genuine European re-industrialisation policy.
In its work programme, the European Commission unsurprisingly seeks to pursue a further deepening of the internal market but by way of greater emphasis on the “strengthened industrial base”. By thus mentioning the strengthening of the industrial base, the Commission is seeking to respond to the expectations formulated by several member states and MEPs in light of the recent Caterpillar (Belgium) and Alstom (France) affairs (see EUROPE 11646).
Last September, the Competitiveness Council called on the Commission to present an “ambitious” industrial strategy (see EUROPE 11635). In October the European Parliament also adopted a resolution on the need for a European reindustrialisation policy (see EUROPE 11639). However, no industrial strategy has yet been clearly mentioned in the document.
A mixed bag. The list of initiatives and reviews undertaken by the Commission is long and extremely diverse. At random, we can mention the “services” package (formerly known as the “services passport" – see EUROPE 11677), which is due to be discussed by the College of Commissioners on 10 January according to EUROPE's sources, the intellectual property review (see EUROPE 11673) and support for the automobile industry’s transition to comprehensive connectivity (see EUROPE 11679). Facilitating SMEs’ access to financing should not be forgotten either (see EUROPE 11673), nor the revision of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) (see EUROPE 11663), VAT simplification for SMEs and the fight against tax evasion.
Space, new lever for reindustrialisation. One interesting point involves the space sector, which is given a clear mention in the Commission's 2017 work programme. European level space policy has a greater profile and political weight since last October’s presentation of the European space strategy and since the European defence action plan that was put forward last December. The Commission will thus be putting forward an initiative for promoting the expansion of a coded communication service known as the GovSatCom (see EUROPE 11655), as well as several initiatives to help expand the commercial use of space data (see EUROPE 11540). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)