Brussels, 07/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - In an effort to unlock market potential for innovative goods and services, the European Commission proposed on 7 January the 'Lead Markets Initiative for Europe' (LMI). This will initially aim to develop six important markets with high economic and societal value, representing an annual turnover of more than €120 billion and 1.9 million jobs in the EU. According to the Commission, European enterprises (particularly SMEs) would profit from new fast growing world-wide markets. Through this initiative the six markets' turnover may increase to over €300 billion and the number of jobs generated in the EU could reach over 3 million in 2020. The LMI will seek to foster the emergence of these markets by notably improving legislation, encouraging public procurement and developing interoperable standards, as well as by bringing visible advantage to Europe's consumers in key domains for their welfare.
The Commission is calling for the urgent coordination of policies through ambitious action plans in favour of: eHealth. ICT solutions for patients, medical services and payment institutions can help to deliver better care for less money. Standardisation, for instance of various information exchange formats, certifications of systems and large-scale demonstration projects could help to cope better with the problems arising from an "ageing" Europe; sustainable construction: Buildings account for the largest share of the total EU final energy consumption (42%) and produce about 35% of all greenhouse emissions, so developing sustainable solutions through orientation towards innovative solutions and cutting administrative burdens is crucial; technical textiles for intelligent personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE). The current size of the PPE market in the EU is estimated at 10 billion euros, and has the potential to grow by about 50% over the next few years. Spill-over effects from faster growing innovations in PPE to other market segments of the textile sector would considerably increase the economic impact of the lead market and the competitiveness of the entire textile sector; innovative use of bio-based products: building on established knowledge and a leading technological and industrial position, Europe is currently well placed in this market. Perceived uncertainty about product properties and weak market transparency however hinder the fast take-up of products. Standardisation, labelling and certification could be used to overcome this; recycling: this sector has a turnover of € 24 billion and employs about half a million persons. There is significant market potential in recycling, but improved efficiency and capacity by encouraging innovation, and introducing more effective processes and improved technologies is needed; renewable energy is held back by high costs, low demand, market fragmentation and administrative and market barriers. Accelerating innovation in low carbon technologies and removal of planning and certification barriers are crucial for the sector. (E.H.)