Industry Ministers identified, during a policy debate at the Competitiveness Council of the EU on the afternoon of Thursday 25 November, two key challenges that could pose problems in implementing national recovery and resilience plans to support industry, namely labour and skill shortages on the one hand, and the issue of product and energy price inflation on the other.
Virtually all ministers mentioned labour and skill shortages in the digital sector (especially in relation to semiconductors), but also to support the green transition. Sweden mentioned labour shortages in the raw materials and steel sectors. Italy reported a skill gap in the private sector, but also in the public sector. Several Member States mentioned the construction sector.
Concerning the prices of certain products and energy, Poland was the first Member State to mention cost inflation, which could jeopardise the implementation of the national plans, given that the amounts in the plans had been calculated on the basis of the year 2020. Lithuania, Romania, Cyprus, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium and the Czech Republic put particular emphasis on price increases. Shortages of semiconductors, wood and magnesium were cited (see EUROPE 12834/10). Several Member States have expressed concern about the impact of the green transition on the prices of goods and energy in general.
Cohesion policy. Several Member States, starting with Germany, citing the recent ‘Cohesion’ Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12835/6), have stressed the importance of intelligently combining action financed by the European Recovery and Resilience Plan - with its real impact but short budgetary cycle - with the cohesion funds - with their more complex programming but structural objectives. Romania and Poland also stressed the role of cohesion.
Single Market. The Scandinavian and Nordic countries, as well as Spain, highlighted in particular the role of the Single Market in Europe’s resilience and, in this context, the importance of tackling obstacles to its proper functioning. Sweden also emphasised the need for the EU to remain open to international trade.
Importance of IPCEI. All ministers welcomed the European Commission’s initiatives on important projects of common European interest (IPCEI). Without knowing the details yet, most welcomed the European Commission’s intention to present an initiative on semiconductors next year.
Poland and Hungary. Poland and Hungary again regretted that their national plans had not yet been approved by the European Commission. Hungary says it fears losing the pre-financing of 13% of the total amount allocated, if the EU Council does not adopt the plan by the end of the year.
EU SME Envoy. Asked by EUROPE about the delay in appointing the EU SME Envoy, the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, explained that the delay was due to particularly strict internal conflict of interest “control filters”. He indicated that the appointment would be made shortly and that this was not a problem for the functioning of the system.
He said that the working lunch was devoted, among other things, to the issue of SMEs and how to support them through the European Recovery Plan, especially in certain sectors such as construction and tourism.
German coalition agreement. When asked by EUROPE about his assessment of the content of the new German government’s coalition agreement, the Commissioner remained evasive, but mentioned many convergences with the European Commission’s point of view, notably concerning strategic autonomy. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)