During the 5th International Friends of Industry conference in Berlin on Friday 30 June, representatives from the 20 member states adopted a joint declaration on the Union developing an holistic industrial strategy. The Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, also attended this event. US President, Donald Trump and his recent action, cast a shadow on the contents of the text.
The German Secretary of State, Matthias Machnig, stated, “We need strong industry in Europe and a clear European industrial strategy with concrete measures to promote a sustainable strengthening of our industry’s competitiveness”. During this event, Mr Machnig called on the European Commission to present this strategy as soon as possible. This could provide a way of further hammering home the message delivered by the Competitiveness Council in May 2017, which called on the Commission to present an holistic strategy by spring 2018 (see EUROPE 11798).
The Berlin Declaration also underlines the demand made by the member states. The European Commission is expected to present an holistic strategy by Spring 2018 for the industrial sector, which sets out medium and long-term strategic objectives. This will also be accompanied by an action plan and concrete measures, as well as an impact analysis of the European policies on European industry.
The five-page long declaration tackles many different themes, such as digitalisation, access to investment, sustainability and the environment, as well as international trade. The question of industry’s digital transformation is a priority. In this regard, the signatories considered that member states should strengthen their investment in infrastructure at European, national and regional levels and that investment should be increased in digital skills. In this connection, they would also like to emphasise STEAM skills, or those relating to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In the context of start-ups, signatories would like to facilitate SMEs’ access to markets and finance, as well as, in a more general way, access to skills, knowledge, expertise and technological services, as well as innovation hubs. In the area of innovation, they also mention at random: 5G, 3-D imaging and cyber security. In the context of innovation, the 20 member states explained that they need to adjust financing programmes and the regulatory framework as a whole, as a means to respond to the challenges of the data economy.
Member states also call for: European strategic investment funds to be maintained, costs linked to European regulation to be reduced, a stable regulatory environment for environmental subjects. On the latter point, signatories denounced, without explicitly mentioning it, the recent withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, as announced by US president, Donald Trump. On the issue of the European Trading Scheme (ETS), signatories call for attention to be paid to high energy consuming industries.
International trade occupies a significant part of the declaration. The text points out that “the time of major trading nations pronouncing that they are in favour of opening up the markets… is over” whilst referring in thinly veiled terms, to the US. The signatories regret this change, which they consider will have a negative impact on the chain of industrial value. On this basis, the declaration highlights the importance of ensuring respect for the reciprocity principle and responding to unfair trade. It therefore reiterates the importance of multilateral and bilateral negotiations and insists on the need for the European Commission to defend European industry effectively.
Declaration signatures include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)