Brussels, 05/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Industry Council met on Tuesday morning in Brussels under the chairmanship of French Secretary of State for Industry Christian Perret. After lengthy discussion, it adopted conclusions on shipbuilding (for details see following article). As foreseen, it also adopted conclusions on innovation as a factor of competitiveness and a decision for adoption of the 2001/2005 multi-annual programme for enterprise and the entrepreneurial spirit (see EUROPE of 4 and 5 December, p.9). The first Council debate on reform of European competition rules on agreements and abuse of dominant position was postponed, as not enough time was left after the discussions on shipbuilding. The member States were invited to give written answers to questions put by the Presidency (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.8). European Competition Commissioner Mr Monti nonetheless reminded the press that the aim of making competition rules more effective by strengthening the role of national authorities has everyone's support, and all that remains is "application of this principle". The presentation of the report by the Commission on aid to the steel sector was also postponed.
Christian Perret welcomed the adoption of conclusions on innovation, "a priority of the French Presidency in the field of industry and a first step towards the accomplishment of the aims defined at the Lisbon and Feira Summits" for placing Europe at the fore regarding innovation in 2010. He stressed that the conclusions and the action plans for SMEs place emphasis among other things on: 1) the aim of catching up with the United States and Japan regarding innovation, mainly with regard to patents; 2) the effort to be made to support SMEs and the development of venture capital; 3) the creation of an innovative spirit, not only in enterprise but also in university circles; 4) the setting in place of a scoreboard of the best innovative practices; 5) the definition of qualitative and quantitative aims.