As the Industry and Internal Market Ministers of the EU27 meet in Brussels on Thursday 28 November, negotiations continue to find a common rhetoric on the future of European competitiveness. On Wednesday 27 November, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) will be asked to approve a text of conclusions which the ministers will adopt the following day. Agence Europe has obtained a copy of this latest version, dated 25 November.
The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU has tried to find solutions to passages that posed problems for several delegations, as was the case with funding for competitiveness. The compromise text submitted to the Member States reiterates the importance of combining public and private funding “to leverage investments via de-risking and risk-sharing mechanisms”.
As far as public funding is concerned, it should be targeted above all at strategic technologies and should be easy to access, according to the authors of the text.
To satisfy those countries that do not wish to engage in discussions on the budget, the EU Council will highlight “that these conclusions are without prejudice to the negotiations on the post-2027 multiannual financial framework”.
In the Budapest Declaration of 8 November, European leaders agreed to consider new own resources and new financing instruments (see EUROPE 13521/2).
Internal market. The draft conclusions are to a great extent focussed on the need to strengthen the internal market and to follow up the reports by Mr Draghi and Mr Letta. In this context, the horizontal strategy to be proposed by the Commission next year will include a “work plan for its implementation, with regular monitoring and progress reports, as well as a roadmap with a timetable”, particularly for services.
As in previous conclusions on competitiveness, the reduction of the administrative and regulatory burden on businesses is highlighted. On this subject, the EU Council will call on the Commission to clarify its method for achieving the objective of reducing reporting obligations by 25%.
Energy prices. Just as the leaders of the EU27 have done, the ministers will insist on the need to bring down energy prices in addition to decarbonising industry. Over the last few weeks, the EU Council has been debating the language to be used with regard to the types of energy to be supported. In particular, the role of nuclear power as a cheap, low-carbon energy source was called into question.
As a compromise, the Presidency proposed adding a line on the right of each country to “determine its choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply”.
See the draft conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/ehk (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Anne Damiani)