In view of the forthcoming presentation by the European Commission of the industrial strategy, the strategy for SMEs, and the action plan on the internal market, associations representing the business community - BusinessEurope, SMEunited and EUROCHAMBRES - are manoeuvring to make their voices heard one last time before the institution.
Thus, BusinessEurope sent a letter on Wednesday 4 March to Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton asking him to review governance to better monitor the competitiveness of European industry by using a set of key performance indicators in comparison with other regions and countries in the world, including China and the United States.
To assist the European Commission in implementing the strategy, BusinessEurope proposes the creation of a think tank of “high level representatives” from the business community, which would produce an annual report, with a view to possibly proposing corrective measures. The think tank’s work could also be presented to the ‘Competitiveness’ Council, the association suggests.
SMEunited, for its part, met the Director-General of DG GROW on Tuesday 3 March. The SME organisation has called for clear objectives, not only for 2050, but also for 2030, to give the sector better visibility. It also wants sector strategies to be developed with all stakeholders, including SMEs.
On Thursday 5 March, EUROCHAMBRES published recommendations, notably for training administrative staff and the judiciary to ensure proper application of the rules. The association calls for a rapid revision of the competition rules for the internal market to cope with international competition. In this context, it suggests focusing on cross-border initiatives.
The Commission plans to present a series of flagship strategies on 10 March, namely the industrial strategy (see EUROPE 12318/2), the strategy for SMEs (see EUROPE 12431/11), and the Action Plan for the implementation of the Single Market (see EUROPE 12438/6). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)