Three heads, three opinions. The debates which preceded and accompanied the communication of the European Commission on the industrial policy has gone far past the stage of official stances, many of them repetitive, from employer and union organisations. Here, for example, is the exchange of views between three figures from the world of university and business, from the minutes of the colloquium "In Favour of a European Industrial Dialogue" ["In Favour of the European Industrial Dialogue", the minutes of the colloquium. Confrontations Europe, Options series number 21. 10 Euros] organised by the association "Confrontations Europe". During discussions on the emergence of "European champions" within strategic sectors, Lord Simon of Higbury, a member of the board of the Suez group, said this about the city of London: "in London's financial centre, what is of interest is competence, technology and competitiveness. It doesn't matter if the Americans buy up British companies if, in so doing, they bring training, technology and jobs". The response of Jean-Louis Beffa, chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain: "asking about the importance of company ownership is still relevant. 60, if not 80% of research takes place in the country of the headquarters. Knowing who owns what it is, therefore, not a matter of complete indifference; it is also fundamentally important to American or Japanese companies to remain American or Japanese. In the EU, points of view differ. The British point of view is in line with its greatest industry, that of financial services. People often refer to the good of Europe when they're actually talking from a national viewpoint". Mario Monti, former European Commissioner with responsibility for Competition, and president of the Bocconi University, took position somewhere in the middle: "I do not think that it is irrelevant to know who owns what. On the comparison between the French, German and Italian economies, one common historical characteristic can be seen: the importance of owning capital, a multi-secular heritage going back to the guilds and corporations and which has long influenced political decision-making. The United Kingdom, having agreed unhesitatingly for the capital of its businesses to go into foreign hands, has seen many jobs created, which has also had a considerable impact on its GDP. We must avoid a division of the rules in Europe, with certain countries specialising in protecting the flag flying over their factories, whilst others just create jobs".
In favour of a "less innocent" trade policy. The financial aspect of the industrial policy was also discussed in a "dialogue", which was published along with the minutes of the colloquium, between Mario Monti and the president of "Confrontations Europe", Philippe Herzog. The latter said: "a decisive element will be the way in which the European financial market is constructed. Can we think about promoting Europe's industrial development with a market based in London and integrated into that of the United States?". Mario Monti replied that if the city has grown to dominate European financial activity, this is down not solely to American banks, but also those of the continent (Deutsche Bank has based its investment activities in London), and that the production of financial services generates a lot of jobs. A few days later, Louis Schweitzer, chief executive officer of Renault, had a public meeting with the vice-president of the European Commission Günter Verheugen, in which he defined the major elements of the European industrial strategy. At the top of his list he put the smooth running of the European single market (observing that "there is an unfortunate tendency in Europe to reinvent national barriers"), but at the same level he put a salary level which is "compatible with sustained consumption"; good-quality public services (or services of general interest), a degree of tax harmonisation; an external monetary policy and a "less innocent" trade policy. As we can see, these are not exactly the same requirements as feature in the official stances of European employers... The concept of the trade policy was also brought up by Mr Herzog, when he announced that this would be the subject of another "Confrontations Europe" conference. For his part, Mr Verheugen stressed the need for European business circles to become more aware of their social responsibilities, which was a scarcely-veiled reference to various scandals and some less than exemplary behaviour on the part of a few big chiefs in big companies.
Mario Monti also brought another element into the debate. If the Constitution is dead and buried, he observed, "what political guarantee could the EU give to its development? The uncertainty on what is to become of the Union would have a highly negative effect on investors' location decisions, European or otherwise". This is an element of the reflection which is very often forgotten, and which is yet so very important.
(F.R.)