The member states appear to want a new “comprehensive” strategy from the European Commission according to the provisional conclusions consulted by EUROPE on Thursday 26 October, which focus on the “holistic” industrial strategy presented by the Commission last month. This request would demonstrate more ambitious expectations from the member states than the proposals produced by the European Commission.
According to the provisional conclusions on the “revisited” strategy for the European Union’s industrial policy (the strategy was presented by the European last month (see EUROPE 11864) in view of the Competitiveness Council on 30 November, the member states intend to call for a new “comprehensive” European industrial strategy for the present period up to 2030.
As part of the draft text they are therefore calling on the Commission to set out strategic mid and long-term objectives for industry, with the presentation of a plan containing concrete measures and an impact study on industrial policies taken since the beginning of 2015, as requested by the Competitiveness Council in May 2017 (see EUROPE 11798).
They are calling on the Commission to examine a concrete mechanism to follow-up the industrial strategy’s implementation and request the latter to provide regular presentations of a progress report, as part of the Competitiveness Council, particularly the European Spring Council.
Member states are also highlighting the importance of including them in the decision-making process for the European Union’s industrial policy, in addition to the regions. One source informed EUROPE that some member states regretted the fact that they had not been consulted by the Commission in the drafting of the strategy presented last September.
These requests may come as a big surprise given that they involve the conclusions produced for the industrial strategy that has just been presented. This is because the member states may be rather disappointed with the European Commission communication because, although they welcomed the communication, they would like to go further. One diplomatic source informed EUROPE that “the member states have said ‘thank you’, it’s interesting but it is not what we asked you for”.
The revisited strategy has been criticised by the Friends of Industry in the member states. No fewer than 20 member states signed the Friends of Industry’s Berlin Declaration earlier this year calling on the European Union to provide a genuinely holistic industrial policy (see EUROPE 11821).
In the follow-up to the State of the Union speech made by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission presented its “revisited” strategy for the European Union’s industrial policy that includes a suggestion for setting up a roundtable of high-level business leaders (see EUROPE 11861). The communication received rather lukewarm support from the European Parliament, civil society and industrial sector. The communication left them with the impression of an inventory of what had been done but which had taken very few really new measures to help European industry (see EUROPE 11864, 11868). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)