Brussels, 10/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - In the context of a European Commission seminar on Wednesday, UNICE on 4 July "took a position" on the number of fields in which it believes the EU should act to reinforce competitiveness in the European manufacturing industry. The European business lobby is appealing for better quality regulation in environmental protection, promotion of technological innovation, solutions to shortage of skilled labour, access to basic infrastructures at competitive costs, improving the impact assessment of EU drafts on the environment in regard to competitiveness and access to international markets under fair conditions of international competition.
Regulatory environment. Although it recognised that progress has been made in this area, UNICE wants greater simplification and improvement in the environmental regulation of companies. It would like to see social legislation that takes into consideration the needs for flexibility of personnel employed in industry, a strengthening of European competition policy (it is therefore opposed to Commission policy, which it considers goes in the direction of a "re-nationalisation" of competition policy. It also wants a reduction in corporation tax in some Member States.
Promotion of technological innovation. Although UNICE welcomes the commitment made at the Barcelona Summit of Member States to invest 3% of GDP in R&D by 2010 (as opposed to the current rate of 1.7%), it believes that additional efforts are necessary in the following fields: Encouraging entrepreneurship as well as young people's interest for natural sciences and engineering; Adoption of the Community patent; Elimination of barriers to market development; Improving financing and fiscal conditions for innovation; Improving efficiency of spending, especially in public research activities.
Skills. Based on the principle of a competitive industry depending on a qualified and productive workforce, UNICE considers that the Commission underestimates the role played by human capital in the under-performance of the EU, as mentioned in the 2002 report. It is therefore calling on: improved quality of basic technical and scientific training; "lifelong learning strategies" and the promotion of mobility of human resources in Europe; easier entry into the EU for third country nationals with the right qualifications, to overcome bottlenecks in the labour market.
Access to infrastructures. UNICE wants access to infrastructures to be based on competitive prices. It is calling on the EU to continue liberalisation in the energy sector that is based on sustainable development and security of supply on the continent. It is also calling on the liberalisation process to be continued in the rail, air transport and port services sectors in a way that will lead to user and logistics costs being reduced and made more competitive in relation to those of US competitors. UNICE is also calling for selective financial EU intervention to accelerate the construction of trans-European traffic routes and to eliminate bottlenecks. In the telecomms area, UNICE would like to see greater development of Internet broad band services.
Environment. UNICE is calling on the European institutions, which have underlined industry's contribution to ecological progress, to meet in more satisfactory ways the impact of their initiatives on the requirements of business competitiveness. It is also calling for self-regulation and voluntary agreements.
Access to the market and competition. UNICE noted that competitiveness and growth in numerous European companies is directly linked to trade and investment. UNICE is callign on the Union to continue negotiations in the framework of the Doha Development Agenda, which should lead to greater market liberalisation and the adoption of better multilateral regulation.