Brussels, 15/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - If industrial policy sets the structural conditions necessary to ensure economic success in a globalised economy, competition policy has to be one of its central planks, said competition commissioner Neelie Kroes in a speech on Thursday at the Fordham University School of Law in New York. “… embracing open markets - and renouncing protectionism or what might be characterised as 'old-fashioned' industrial policy - is not only desirable but imperative,” she said, happy to note the significant increase in cross-border mergers, especially in the liberalised sectors. Using the E.ON/Endesa affair to illustrate her point, she was highly critical of the rhetoric of outmoded economic patriotism: “the language and the mindset are those of yesterday's people, not of those who have the guts to look forward with ambitious realism”. Fortress Europe, with national champions decided by governments, is not sustainable in the long term, she said, adding that the response to today's industrial challenges is not to protect oneself from the competition, but to “put in place the conditions which will allow industry to flourish in an increasingly competitive environment”. She said that a modern, proactive industrial policy, which allows everyone to benefit from globalisation, should address the “structural shortcomings of the European economy” and “build on our comparative advantages”. Competition policy instruments, including control of State aid, can make a contribution by encouraging efficiency in production, innovation and allocation of resources.