In a letter sent to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, on Friday 16 March, of which EUROPE has obtained a copy, the Bulgarian Minister for the Economy, Emil Karanikolov, explained that on behalf of Presidency of the Council of the European Union, he wanted to include a reference to comprehensive long-term European industrial policy in the conclusions of the next European Council.
It should be recalled that the Ministers at the Competitiveness Council called on the European Commission three times to present an ambitious industrial strategy up to 2030 and beyond, backed up by a concrete action plan (see EUROPE 11979).
Taking on board these appeals, the Bulgarian Minister emphasised in his letter dated 13 March, the urgency of the European Union developing a “strong” and “comprehensive” long-term industrial strategy. In a barely concealed reference to the European Commission's renewed strategy presented in September which disappointed a number of delegations and MEPs by its lack of ambition (see EUROPE 11861) we read that, “It is clear that such a comprehensive industrial policy needs to come in place urgently and needs to commit the EU and its institutions for more than one of two years”.
Mr Karanikolov put much emphasis on the notion of the long-term. He argued that the debate now opening should go beyond the next multi-annual financial framework (MFP) covering the 2021-27 period. He also pointed out that European industry was confronting a twofold challenge: that of regenerating itself and innovating in an effort to respond to climate change, whilst remaining competitive. He believes that if nothing is done in the here and now, European industry may not be able to meet the major challenges of the next decade.
The provisional version of the European Council conclusions dated 12 March, examined by EUROPE (see EUROPE 11980), does indeed mention the need to have a “strong” industrial policy so that it is able to benefit from the internal market but no definitive timeframe was mentioned in this regard. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)