GENERAL INDUSTRIAL POLICY ISSUES:

Commission and Member States up-date Lisbon Agenda:

The Lisbon “Partnership for Growth and Jobs” was an expression by European Commission and Member States of commitment to focus on economic growth and employment. The EU’s declared priorities were:

• Making Europe a more attractive place to invest and work
• Putting knowledge and innovation at the heart of European growth

·         Shaping policies to allow businesses to create more and better jobs

The full text of the new industry policy may be found at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/industry/index_en.htm

A European Commission Memorandum, published in October 2005, provides information on four key aspects of the new integrated industrial policy:

1. Seven major cross-sectoral policy initiatives
2. Sector-specific initiatives
3. The EU industry – some key figures
4. 27 separate sectors grouped in four categories

1.      The seven major cross-sectoral policy initiatives are: (1) An intellectual property rights (IPR) and counterfeiting initiative (2006); (2) A high-level group on competitiveness, energy and the environment (end 2005); (3) External aspects of competitiveness and market access (Spring 2006); (4)  New legislative simplification programme (October 2005) (see below); (5)  Improving sectoral skills (2006) – skill shortage are seen as a key challenge in ICT and engineering industries as well as textile, leather and some basic and intermediate goods industries.  It is proposed that assessments be made of the nature of the skill problems in particular industries in order to supplement initiatives such as the Education and Training 2010 work programme and the European Qualification Framework (EQF). (6) Managing structural change in manufacturing (2005). It is intended that better anticipation of economic restructuring be included in the new Structural Funds programmes. (7) An integrated European approach to industrial research and innovation (2005) – a European Industrial Research and Innovation Monitoring System will be set up in 2006.

2. Sector-specific initiatives

This will include initiatives aimed at particular sectors such as: pharmaceuticals forum; reviewing life sciences and biotechnology strategy; new High-Level groups on chemicals and the defence industry; European Space Programme; a Taskforce on information and communication technologies (ICT) competitiveness; mechanical engineering policy dialogue; competitiveness studies – including ICT, food and fashion and design industries.

3. The EU industry – some key figures

Manufacturing provides around 1/5^th of EU output and employs approximately 34 million people in the EU.  It is seen as the key to exploiting the new knowledge economy; it generates the new and innovates products that provide ¾ of EU exports; it creates growth and jobs in the wider EU economy: it is closely inter-linked with the service industries and consists of a large majority of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (over 99% of companies and 58% of manufacturing employment are SMEs).

4. 27 separate sectors grouped in four categories

The four broad sectors are (1) food and life sciences industries; (2) machine and systems industries; (3) fashion and design industries and (4) basic and intermediate industries.

Machine and systems industries include ICT and mechanical engineering and account for 1/3 of EU manufacturing value added.  They are characterized by medium to high growth rates with high rates of R&D spending.  Technical standards need continual updating.  The transport industries also face a number of environmental challenges.

Basic and intermediate industries (e.g. chemicals, steel and pulp & paper) account for approx. 40% of EU manufacturing value added.  They are an important source of innovation for other sectors since they provide key inputs for the rest of EU industry.  Growth rates are medium to low, with the exception of chemicals and rubber industries which perform well.  These industries are energy-intensive and main challenges they face relate to energy and the environment.  Important challenges for individual sectors include the REACH legislation for the chemical industry and legislative simplification issues for the construction sector.

Better regulation: Commission intends to withdraw one third of screened proposals After screening 183 proposals for EU laws pending at the European Parliament and Council, the Commission has decided to announce to scrap more than a third (68). Some of the proposals are inconsistent with the objectives of the new Partnership for Growth and Jobs (Lisbon) or do not meet better regulation standards. Others are not advancing in the legislative process, or are simply outdated.

The Commission has also announced that its next ‘better regulation’ efforts will focus on simplifying and updating the existing 80,000 page body of EU legislation.

The Commission has asked Member States, business and citizens to tell it where red-tape and over-regulation can be cut. An internet consultation on this will run until the end of December at:

http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice/forms/dispatch?form=418&lang=EN

The Commission Communication and the full list of the proposals to be withdrawn is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/regulation/better_regulation/index_en.htm