In an effort to send a message to citizens before the May European elections, the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), which brings together 55 multinationals from the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Turkey, has made six commitments to help strengthen Europe's position in the world.
These commitments are as follows: - ERT members will invest “even more” than the 50 billion euros in cumulative investments they make each year; - social inclusion and diversity in companies will be promoted through the development of a framework of new good practices; - digital transformation will be accelerated, in particular through employee training; - to develop skills, partnerships in the field of education and reskilling will be significantly increased; - ERT will support the EU in promoting “fair” free trade at international level; - at European and national levels, members will collaborate in defining policies that contribute to “an energy transition to reach the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement while safeguarding European companies’ global competitiveness”.
“These are important commitments from companies who know they need to lead. We have never been more united and determined to stand up for Europe and the EU”, declared Carl-Henric Svanberg, ERT President and CEO of AB Volvo, in a statement.
The essential unity to enable the European Union to respond to challenges such as nationalism or protectionism is the watchword of the ERT manifesto adopted on Wednesday 24 April.
“The idea is to join forces where it is really worth it”, said an expert who helped write the manifesto. He mentioned several sectors where Europe should be able to compete internationally, such as batteries, the hydrogen option and alternative fuels for aviation. In his view, an “intelligent” EU industrial policy means that know-how within the internal market must be protected from unfair competition from groups from non-Member State that do not respect European rules. This is despite the fact that, after the failure of the Alstom/Siemens merger (see EUROPE 12188/1), “the notion of a European champion is no longer in the European vocabulary”, said this expert.
See the manifesto: http://bit.ly/2IXVZdK. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)