A dividing line has emerged between the EU Member States of the West and North, on the one hand, and those of the East, on the other, as regards the approach to be taken on sustainable growth, on the first day of the Competitiveness Council, Thursday 26 September.
While most Western and Northern Member States, in particular the Scandinavian countries, welcomed the report from the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12335/13) emphasising the international competitive advantage of a green economy close to carbon neutrality, the majority of delegations from the East and some from the South stressed the need to take into account national specificities and that some economies were lagging behind.
"There must be a fair transition", Poland insisted, stressing the issue of carbon leakage, which refers to the relocation of energy-intensive companies to third countries due to a less burdensome tax and regulatory framework.
A position joined by the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, Cyprus and Hungary. The latter country insisted on the principle of "an economy of convergence" at European level. "We are not starting from the same point", several delegations stressed. In the West, only Belgium explicitly mentioned the risks of an asymmetrical transition.
Several delegations from the East and the South insisted on creating value chains that include SMEs. Many pointed out that the internal market, as it stands, is designed for large companies, mainly located in the West, because they have sufficient resources to adapt to the 28 (and soon 27) national laws.
"Asymmetry" was a word on many lips, especially as regards the completion of the internal market, with many delegations denouncing the disparities in the implementation of European rules. Luxembourg was the most virulent. "We need to be more disciplined in the rules we lay down", said Luxembourg's Deputy Permanent Representative Georges Ternes. Ireland, Slovenia, Latvia, Croatia and Sweden pointed to the many obstacles in the services sector.
In this respect, several delegations, such as Belgium, Slovakia and Lithuania, stressed the need to strengthen the monitoring of competitiveness at European level and to assign this task to the Competitiveness Council.
Consensus. One point seemed to be agreed among all delegations: the need to protect European economic operators from international competition, which is not subject to the same social and environmental standards, which are often less demanding and therefore less costly. "There is a risk that the EU will be clean in a dirty world", Slovakia said. The need to accelerate the transition to digital for economic operators has also been mentioned very regularly. The Horizon Europe Framework Programme was also cited for its key role in the green transition.
Noticed absences. The Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, was surprised by the relative absence, in the interventions, of issues related to the skills of European workers, to train them for the needs of the labour market, particularly in the digital field.
The UN Paris Agreement (COP 21) was also conspicuous by its absence during the interventions, although the theme focused on sustainable growth. Some may also be surprised that cohesion policy, which plays a key role in structuring and boosting regional economies across Europe, has not been mentioned.
Next steps. At the press conference, interviewed by EUROPE, the Finnish Minister of Employment, Timo Harakka, explained that today and tomorrow's discussions will feed into the work programme of the new European Commission, on the one hand, and the work of the European Council, on the other. The latter is expected to revisit the European Strategic Agenda in October.
Summing up. Responding to EUROPE, Ms Bieńkowska, who was attending her last Council meeting, gave a brief overview of her work. In particular, she stressed that the next European Commission will take over the two major pending cases in the services area: the Directive on e-cards, which was buried by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11986/16), and the Directive on the 'notification of services', which has been suspended by the Member States (see EUROPE 12137/37). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)