At a Friends of Industry summit in Paris on Tuesday 18 December, some 18 Member States adopted a joint declaration to set out an industrial roadmap for the next European Commission.
"We are now at the crossroad. Either we take the necessary decisions to be an industrial powerhouse, or we will be dependant on other continents, first of all China and the United States," said French Finance Minister Bruno Lemaire, who expressed his satisfaction with the growing success of these summits, which have been held since 2013 at France's initiative.
Thus, referring to the conclusions adopted at the last Competitiveness Council (see EUROPE 12149), the signatories (France, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) call on the next Commission to propose, from the beginning of its mandate, an ambitious and comprehensive industrial strategy for 2030. This strategy should focus on SMEs and develop a monitoring mechanism.
In addition, they ask the current European Commission to identify European strategic value chains by early 2019. Here, priority should be given in particular to electric batteries , connected and autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, cyber security, supercomputers, robotics, low-carbon steel-making, low carbon industrial processes, net zero energy building renovation and construction, maritime industry and space.
In doing so, they call for an action plan to be drawn up for each identified strategic value chain and for the role of the Competitiveness Council to be strengthened in order to make it a truly transversal body and, in so doing, to rationalise European policies contributing to industry.
In general, the signatory states want the state aid rules to evolve, the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IIPEC) to be adapted to the industrial reality of the EU and the anti-monopoly rules to be revised. They also want to support the development of breakthrough innovations in the European Union - based on the new European Innovation Council - as well as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)