Brussels, 28/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - In the context of follow-up actions to its "communication on industrial policy in an enlarged Europe", presented in December 2002, the European Commission organised a conference on 27 January in Brussels on the ceramic and glass industries. Twenty five actors from the sector, MEPs, senior civil servants from the Commission took part. Subjects included: the effects of globalisation, energy accessibility costs and raw materials, the challenge of meeting environmental demands on a best costs basis and strategies for maintaining viability and employment in the long term. By sponsoring this conference, the Commission sought to transfer the interest it has itself in competitiveness from the manufacturing industries.
During the opening of the conference, Commissioner Liikanenen declared that the glass and ceramics industries were an illustration of the importance of the manufacturing sector. These industries bring together 5000 European companies, mainly SMEs, and have an annual combined production worth EUR 55 billion (26.9 for ceramics and 28.849 for glass) and employs more than 4000,000 people. The European Commissioner for enterprise asserted that a solid manufacturing basis remained vital for growth and wealth creation in Europe. He said that that this also applied insofar as it stimulated growth in services for companies and that their objective was to combine suitable conditions for manufacturing and increased production. He added that this method should guarantee sustainable long term success.
While recognising that the industrial sectors such as ceramics and glass cold particularly suffer from a slowdown in the economic cycle, the Commissioner stressed that these sectors included an enterprise core that because of its know-how and innovative abilities, had become world leaders, expanding their markets in face of ferocious competition. He assured participants at the conference that the Commission would continue to provide a suitable political framework for manufacturing in order to help them meet their challenges in the world.