14 Integrated industrial policy
| (32128)
15483/10
+ ADDs 1-5
COM(10) 614
| Commission Communication: An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era — Putting Competitiveness and Sustainability at Centre Stage
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Document originated | 28 October 2010
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| Deposited in Parliament | 3 November 2010
|
| Department | Business, Innovation and Skills
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 15 November 2010
|
| Previous Committee Report | None, but see footnotes
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| To be discussed in Council | 10 December 2010
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
|
Background
14.1 The Commission says that one out of four jobs in the private
sector within the EU is in manufacturing industry, with at least
as many again in associated services, and that industry undertakes
80% of all private sector research and development. It believes
that it is essential to increase productivity in manufacturing
industry and associated services to underpin the recovery, with
industry therefore being at centre stage of the Europe 2020 Strategy:
and it says that the financial and economic crisis has refocused
attention on the importance of creating a strong, competitive
and diversified manufacturing base. It has accordingly sought
in this Communication to set out a strategic framework for a new
integrated industrial policy which will stimulate economic recovery
by creating a thriving world-class industrial base in the EU.
The current document
14.2 The Commission observes that the global business environment
has changed radically in the last decade, giving rise to both
challenges and opportunities, and it says that, with increasing
competition from the emerging economies and the strong competition
for scarce energy and raw materials, EU industry must take the
lead in the transition to a low-carbon resource-efficient economy.
However, the Commission believes there are reasons to be confident
that it can do so, in that, before the economic and financial
crisis, it had fared well, successfully maintaining its share
of world trade, with sectors such as pharmaceuticals and engineering
developing rapidly, and expansion also in the motor, chemicals
and aerospace industries. It adds that, although some sectors
were more substantially affected by the crisis, there has since
been an overall sharp recovery, and it suggests that a vibrant
and competitive manufacturing sector can provide the resources
needed for the societal challenges facing the EU, such as climate
change, health and an aging population, and the development of
a healthy, safe and secure society and thriving social market
economy. However, it points out that the necessary transition
will have to be supported by both horizontal and sectoral policies
at all levels, and will require strengthened European governance
and social dialogue.
A FRESH APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL POLICY
14.3 The Commission says that it is proposing a fresh approach
to industrial policy which will put the EU economy on a dynamic
growth path, but that this must put competitiveness and sustainability
at centre stage. It adds that this requires an approach which
has an impact on the cost, price and innovative competitiveness
of industry and individual sectors, and which considers the competitiveness
effects of all other policy initiatives, such as transport, energy,
environmental, social and consumer protection policies, as well
as those relating to the single market and trade. The Commission
also says that this approach means bringing together a horizontal
basis and sectoral application; consideration of the whole value
and supply chain (including those which are outside Europe); and
regular reports on the performance of the EU as a whole and of
individual Member States.
IMPROVING FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS FOR INDUSTRY
Competitiveness proofing and smart regulation
14.4 The Commission says that, despite a well developed body of
EU legislation, there is still scope for better regulation at
both EU and national levels, and it draws attention to its recent
Communication[61] on
a move towards "smart" regulation across all the relevant
policy fields. It points out that this has two elements —
ensuring a thorough analysis of the impact of all policy proposals
on competitiveness, including the submission of impact assessments
to the Commission's Impact Assessment Board, and ex-post evaluation
of the effects of legislation on competitiveness. It also stresses
the importance of assessing the cumulative effect of legislation
by means of more comprehensive evaluations ("fitness checks"),
and the particular need to improve the business environment for
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Improving access to finance for businesses
14.5 The Commission observes that it is essential to make financial
markets more resilient and efficient, and to ensure that they
finance the real economy and investment, rather than engage in
market speculation. It believes that, in the wake of the recent
crisis, access to finance remains a major challenge, especially
for SMEs, and it says that it has established an SME Finance Forum
to address this issue. It adds that modernising Europe's industrial
base will entail more private capital for productive investments,
in particular through venture capital markets, not least for the
financing of start-ups, dynamically growing firms, research and
innovation: and it suggests that, in view of the deterioration
in the public finances in several Member States, the possibility
of schemes co-funded by the EU Regional Policy or the Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP) should be explored, as well as foreign direct investment.
14.6 The Commission says that it will:
- analyse the impacts on industrial
competitiveness for all important new policy proposals as part
of the impact assessment process;
- conduct ex-post evaluations of the effects of
legislation on competitiveness, complemented by more comprehensive
"fitness checks" to evaluate whether the regulatory
framework for a policy area is fit for purpose;
- ask business and other stakeholders to give their
views on planned Commission initiatives;
- review the Small Business Act;[62]
- bring forward legislation to enable financial
markets to become more resilient and efficient, whilst ensuring
that they do not jeopardise the financing needs of the real economy;
and
- examine whether European financial instruments
can be refocused after 2013 to help overcome market failures in
financing small businesses and innovation.
STRENGTHENING THE SINGLE MARKET
Developing the Single Market and enforcing intellectual
property rights
14.7 The Commission points out that the single market
has been one of the main motors of economic growth in the EU over
the last 20 years, reducing cross-border trading costs, increasing
competition, and providing considerable economies of scale. However,
it observes that a number of barriers remain, including divergent
national rules, duplication of procedures, and in many cases very
different legal environments at national and regional levels,
which hampers both the efficient allocation of resources and competitiveness.
It therefore highlights the need to identify the scope for further
efficiency-enhancing harmonisation.
14.8 The Commission also notes that business-related
services, such as logistics, facility management, design, marketing
and advertising, are now even more essential to manufacturing,
and that, whilst the implementation of the Services Directive
has removed some barriers, others remain and need to be addressed.
It also considers that improvements are essential in the European
system of intellectual property rights, especially as regards
an effective patent and patent litigation system in the case of
the research and development and innovation. It adds that this
must be accompanied by effective enforcement, together with an
attempt to tackle counterfeiting and piracy, particularly in relation
to pharmaceuticals, electronic equipment and automobile parts,
which can not only affect industry profitability but also health
and safety.
Competition policy
14.9 The Commission says that, by maintaining a level
playing field, competition policy ensures access to a large and
sophisticated EU internal market, and also provides specific frameworks
to enable industry to become more resource-efficient, as well
as enabling European firms to tackle emerging competitiveness
issues.
Improving infrastructure
14.10 The Commission observes that the competitiveness
of European industry depends crucially on energy, transport and
communication infrastructures, and that this will require massive
investment and the development of innovative approaches to financing,
such as project bonds or private-public partnerships. It says
that a Communication on energy infrastructure and a White Paper
on sustainable transport will address these issues, whilst the
European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund will
play a significant role. It goes on to note that certain European
network services, such as electricity, are often provided at a
relatively high price, and the importance in this context of the
Energy Package, coupled with stronger enforcement of the relevant
competition rules, and it also believes that the different networks
must become more integrated to allow the provision of new services.
Standardisation
14.11 The Commission regards standardisation as a
key policy for gaining economic benefits from harmonisation and
economies of scale, and says that European standards already play
an important role in facilitating the market penetration of innovative
goods and reducing production costs. It sees the goal for the
coming decade as the development of a standards system for Europe,
which it believes should promote European influence beyond the
single market: and it says that standards need to be adapted to
help address major issues, such as climate change, sustainability,
ageing, and innovation in general, whilst the development of European
or international standards for newly emerging tradable goods and
technologies can create a competitive advantage. At the same time,
it comments that Europe needs to develop more flexible methods
of working with standardisers, and to allow faster development
of standards in innovative areas. It also considers that the efficiency
and effectiveness of European standardisation must be optimised
by fostering stronger structures, improving standard setting processes,
and the rapid adoption of the best available global standards
in areas such as ICT — though it cautions against creating
an additional burden for SMEs.
14.12 The Commission says that it will:
- adopt a multi-annual EU action
plan to develop market surveillance;
- screen EU legislation in selected areas to identify
where further harmonisation could significantly reduce the costs
of conducting business across borders;
- create a new High Level Group on Business Services;
- adopt an energy infrastructure package to support
the development of an internal energy market by addressing missing
infrastructure links of European significance;
- develop an infrastructure funding strategy, including
the creation of EU project bonds and fostering the use of public
private partnerships;
- produce a Communication, accompanied by a legislative
proposal, on standardisation, which will inter alia cover the
ICT sector, in order to speed up and modernise standard-setting.
NEW INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION POLICY
Industrial innovation
14.13 The Commission says that meeting the challenges
of global competition and increased sustainability requires excellence
in innovation, which it describes as a key driver for productivity,
increased energy and material efficiency, improved performance
of goods and services, and the generation of new markets. However,
it believes that Europe is not good enough at turning its ideas
into marketable goods and services, and that this needs to be
encouraged by a new industrial innovation policy. It notes that
the Innovation Union[63]
flagship initiative outlines the overall approach to achieving
this, and that there is an urgent need for better coordination
of education, research and innovation, more coherence in science,
technology and innovation cooperation with the rest of the world,
a global approach to societal challenges, the establishment of
a level playing field for research and innovation, an enhanced
access to finance and risk capital, and an appropriate focus on
both competitiveness and societal challenges.
14.14 The Commission identifies the development and
bringing to the market of Europe's research strengths in key emerging
technologies (such as industrial biotechnology, nanotechnology,
and advanced materials) as a key challenge, providing the basis
for a wide variety of new processes and goods and services, including
the development of entirely new industries over the next decade.
It adds that European industry must also strengthen its knowledge
base and points out that it has, since 2004, supported the development
of European Technology Platforms, the setting up of Joint Technology
Initiatives in areas of high innovation potential, and the launching
of a number of public-private partnerships as part of the European
Economic Recovery Package. It also draws attention to the activities
of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology in integrating
at EU level the entire innovation chain, and the essential role
of ICT for future competitiveness, as set out in the Europe 2020
flagship on the digital agenda.[64]
Other initiatives highlighted include the Commission's Sectoral
Innovation Watch, the formation of clusters and networks promoting
cooperation among businesses, public authorities and research
institutions, and the emphasis placed on collaborative research
under the current EU framework for state aid to research and development.
Skills base
14.15 The Commission says that modernising Europe's
skills base will be one of the main aims of the flagship initiative
"An agenda for new skills and jobs", and it notes
that, despite high unemployment, European industry is still struggling
to find those of the skills needed to fill vacancies — a
problem which it suggests is likely to increase as a result of
demographic change. It adds that modernising industrial structures
will require new skills, new working conditions and more frequent
career shifts, coupled with "flexicurity" in lifelong
learning. It also suggests that close cooperation is needed between
the public sector and industry in developing education and training
policies, particularly in increasing the supply and quality of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates, and
the number of medium-skilled workers.
14.16 The Commission says that it will:
- launch an initiative to promote
the wide and timely deployment, take-up and commercialisation
of competitive Key Enabling Technologies;
- promote industrial research, development and
innovation on advanced manufacturing technologies;
- encourage new business concepts and related manufacturing
technologies focused on the development of sustainable, user-driven
design-based products in the textile and clothing sector as well
as other large consumer markets;
- develop policy approaches to foster the potential
for greater cross-fertilisation between sectors, including traditional
manufacturing sectors and SMEs;
- present a new strategy for globally competitive
clusters and networks including specific action to promote them
in both traditional and emerging industries;
- invite Member States to increase their use of
the European Social Fund for skills upgrading and restructuring.
CAPITALISING ON GLOBALISATION
Trade and international regulation
14.17 The Commission says that successful trade liberalisation,
together with falling transport and communication costs, has helped
to create a vibrant global marketplace and a rapid growth in new
markets for EU exports. It also refers to the newly emerging economic
heavyweights, and the consequent need for industry to continue
to modernise in order to maintain its competitive position, and
it draws attention to the Communication[65]
on Trade Growth and World Markets it has put forward as part of
the Europe 2020 strategy. It adds that particular efforts should
be made to ensure that growth strategies do not rely heavily on
protectionist measures, and, in noting the existence of non-tariff
barriers, hidden subsidies, discriminatory public procurement,
managed exchange rates and poor enforcement of social and environmental
protection, it stresses the importance of addressing the different
types of trade barriers faced by European exporters.
14.18 The Commission goes on to highlight the need
for effective protection of intellectual property rights and geographical
indicators, the importance of trade defence mechanisms, and the
urgent need for global rules relating to newly emerging tradable
goods, services and technologies (failing which, it says that
the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade should be used).
It also suggests that there may be benefit in proposing to the
EU's trading partners the extension of certain traceability requirements
found in European legislation, and that it would be helpful to
seek closer economic integration with neighbouring countries.
Finally, it notes that, whilst internationalisation offers significant
growth potential, it also poses particular challenges for SMEs,
and that they need the right information and support in markets
outside the EU, with greater synergies between the efforts of
the EU, Member States and business organisations.
Access to raw material and critical products
14.19 The Commission states that secure, affordable,
reliable and undistorted access to raw materials, involving well-functioning
global markets, is essential to industrial competitiveness, and
it refers to the Raw Materials Initiative[66]
it launched in November 2008, which it says has prepared the ground
for a EU strategy, seeking both to foster their supply and to
reduce consumption by increasing resource efficiency. It adds
that new rules and agreements on sustainable international management
and access to raw materials are needed at a multilateral level,
and that there should also be a vigorous application of the EU's
existing rules on anti-competitive agreements. Other steps proposed
include the promotion of mining and processing technologies to
encourage resource efficiency and recycling, and greater use of
renewables; and the addressing of framework conditions for a sustainable
supply and management of raw materials within the EU.
14.20 The Commission says that it will:
- develop international regulatory
cooperation initiatives, with a view to urging major trading partners
to adhere to any new or existing international scheme and to develop
globally compatible rules and standards;
- seek closer economic integration with neighbouring
countries by extending the benefits of the Single Market in selected
areas through the European Neighbourhood Policy;
- present a strategy for the internationalisation
of SMEs, building on policies set out in the Small Business Act;
- invite the Council and Parliament to adopt its
proposal[67] on the indication
of the country of origin of certain products imported from third
countries;
- put forward a new strategy on raw materials,
including proposals on fostering better framework conditions for
sustainable supplies of domestic primary raw materials, increased
recycling, and finding substitutes for other raw materials.
PROMOTING INDUSTRIAL MODERNISATION
Resource, energy and carbon efficiency
14.21 The Commission says that an accelerated move
by the EU towards a low-carbon, resource- and energy-efficient
economy is essential both to deliver sustainable growth and gain
competitive advantage. It says that the forthcoming flagship initiative
on Transition to a Resource Efficient Europe will provide a framework
for decoupling carbon and resource use from economic growth, and
that there is also a need to develop specific longer-term measures
on energy efficiency. It says that the EU roadmap for a low-carbon
economy by 2050, including milestones for 2030, will highlight
pathways for improvements in the industrial, energy and transport
systems which are crucial to stimulating innovation, boosting
growth, and strengthening the EU's energy security.
14.22 The Commission also recalls that the EU's sustainable
industrial policy focuses explicitly on opportunities for sustainable
growth, whilst moving towards more resource efficiency across
industry as a whole, involving also a life-cycle perspective going
beyond the production phase; the use of Eco-design and energy
labelling; and the wider adoption of best environmental practices
though the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). It
also says that negotiating the constraints of global resource
scarcity will require breakthrough technologies, and that in particular
an innovative approach needs to be taken to environmental technologies.
Structural excess capacities
14.23 The Commission says that, if EU industry is
to recover swiftly after the economic crisis, the emergence of
structural excess capacities in some sectors needs to be addressed,
and that this can best be done at company level. It notes that
the rescue and restructuring aid guidelines allow for aid only
if this restores long-term viability, and it says that the lessons
learnt from the crisis will be fed into a revision of the guidelines.
It also observes that Member States may need to support reallocation
of labour, and that the better anticipating and managing of restructuring
would help adaptation and modernisation. It believes that existing
state aid rules enable Member States to use aids to accompany
change, whilst at European level the Regional and Cohesion Funds
can stimulate investment to strengthen the resilience of local
economies: and it suggests that an expanded European Globalisation
Adjustment Fund could also contribute to managing the fall-out
from the crisis. In particular. the Commission highlights the
key role of management and workers representatives in agreeing
restructuring strategies at company level.
Building on Corporate Social Responsibility
14.24 The Commission says that corporate social responsibility
helps to strengthen trust in business, and that the financial
crisis showed that a new approach is needed to the balance between
short-term maximisation of profit and the creation of sustainable
value in the longer run, with companies taking into account their
contribution to sustainable growth and considering the interests
of employees and citizens affected by decisions. It adds that
corporate social responsibility can enable European companies
to become market leaders by placing an increasing premium on social
and environmental issues.
14.25 The Commission says that it will:
- develop long-term sectoral
industrial strategies and policies needed to assist the transition
to a low carbon, resource and energy-efficient economy;
- launch an eco-innovation action plan to encourage
the commercialisation and deployment of key environmental technologies;
- review the European Globalisation Adjustment
Fund regulation;
- review the Rescue and Restructuring Guidelines
for State Aid;
- present proposals to accelerate the implementation
and improve the focus of European Structural Funds;
- examining the possibility of an initiative on
the Ecological Footprint of Products.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC DIMENSION — A TARGETED APPROACH
14.26 The Commission says that it will continue to
apply a targeted approach to all sectors, but that some sector-specific
initiatives to promote industrial innovation could be taken, including
a policy for space (based upon the new competences given by the
Lisbon Treaty); the development of solutions for sustainable mobility;
meeting future societal challenges of climate change, health and
security; sectors (such as chemicals and agro-food) where value-chain
considerations are particularly important; and energy-intensive
sectors.
Space: a driver for innovation and competitiveness
14.27 The Commission notes that Europe has a large
high-tech space industry which supplies a significant part of
the world's commercial requirements for satellite manufacture,
launch and services, as well as delivering systems and services
in the fields of telecommunications, navigation and Earth observation,
which address major challenges such as climate change and boost
the competitiveness of European industries. It suggests that there
is a need to build on these achievements in order to develop a
market for space products, and it notes that the Lisbon Treaty
confers a shared competence to the EU in this area, with the specific
aim of promoting scientific and technical progress and industrial
competitiveness, and that it also commits the EU to establish
appropriate relations with the European Space Agency.
Sustainable mobility
14.28 The Commission observes that clean and energy-efficient
vehicle technologies can have a substantial impact on greenhouse
gas emissions, air pollution and noise, that rail energy storage
has the potential to increase energy efficiency substantially,
and that the aerospace industry and parts of the maritime industries
are highly competitive and successful globally.
Tackling societal challenges
14.29 The Commission says that the pharmaceutical
and healthcare industries are world leaders, and play an essential
role in the health and quality of life within the EU, adding that
there is a need for a partnership between private and public sectors,
and for more transparency and better coordination between Member
States as regards pricing and reimbursement systems. It also highlights
the importance of the EU security industry, with its highly diverse
range of products; the substantial contribution which the construction
sector makes to environmental and societal changes; and the extent
to which bio-based markets can contribute to a more sustainable
economy.
The EU value-chain
14.30 The Commission observes that the EU needs to
pay greater attention to the manufacturing value-chain, in that
industry is both dependent on inputs of raw material and intermediate
goods and on the services industries which add value and help
market new goods and services. It therefore suggests that industrial
policy should take increased account of these inter-linkages,
and it points to the extent to which this approach could be adopted
by the chemicals, agro-food and cultural and creative industries.
Concerns of energy-intensive industries
14.31 The Commission stresses the need to improve
international competitiveness by speeding up the transition to
a low-carbon and resource-efficient industry in energy-intensive
industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, paper and chemicals,
and the scope for doing this under the forthcoming flagship initiative
on resource efficiency. It notes that the new technologies and
techniques for achieving this are being developed through Technology
Platforms and Lead Market Initiatives, but that further public-private
collaboration is needed to ensure timely deployment and commercialisation.
14.32 The Commission says that it will:
- produce a EU space programme
and industrial policy; a clean and energy-efficient vehicles platform;
and a Strategic Transport Technology Plan;
- help to create bio-based markets, through improving
relevant legislation and framework conditions for industrial use,
promoting innovation through demonstration projects and developing
European and international standards;
- pursue strategic initiatives following the Green
Paper[68] on unlocking
the potential of cultural and creative industries;
- introduce a Sustainable Industry Low Carbon Scheme
to coordinate framework conditions, funding actions, data collection
and other activities by the EU and Member States to promote the
development and uptake of low carbon technologies;
- consider an energy-intensive industries Low Carbon
Implementation initiative, bringing together the relevant technology
platforms with the EU and Member States, to ensure the appropriate
R&D, financing and deployment strategies for low-carbon production;
- promote, in partnership with Member States and
industry, demonstration projects and uptake for ultra-low carbon
production technologies, including industrial carbon capture and
storage, while avoiding distortions to competition.
A NEW EU GOVERNANCE FOR INDUSTRIAL POLICY
14.33 The Commission concludes that, since the concepts
of national sectors and industries with little interaction with
other sectors or the rest of the world are becoming less relevant,
delivering the new industrial policy calls for more effective
European governance, with uncoordinated national policy responses
giving way to coordinated European policy responses. It suggests
that this approach has two separate strands — "holistic"
policy making at European level, and closer cooperation with Member
States, and the monitoring of performance at the European and
Member State level — and it says that it will therefore
regularly report on this, covering both competitiveness performance
and policies. It suggests that a review of Member States industrial
and business policies could lead to better coordination and a
pooling of available resources, and it also intends to promote
exchanges of best practice, and to use a number of indicators
of success, including improvements in international competitiveness,
the number of new jobs created in industry and related services,
the rate at which manufacturing output rises, and the share of
medium- and high-technology manufacturing sectors in total manufacturing
value-added and employment.
The Government's view
14.34 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 15 November
2010, the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise at the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Mark Prisk)
says that the Government broadly welcomes the new integrated industrial
policy proposed, which is consistent with the Government's drive
to deliver sustainable growth and international competitiveness
in a low carbon economy, no longer reliant on a narrow range of
sectors. He notes that EU efforts to remove bottlenecks, strengthen
the Single Market, and accelerate innovative new technologies
into the market are important parts of the growth agenda, and
says that, in taking forward the EU sectoral strategies, the Government
will encourage action focused on areas of EU added value, respecting
Member States' competences.
14.35 As regards individual aspects of the proposed
strategy, he says that the Government:
- supports the focus on improving
framework conditions for industry, and particularly welcomes the
Commission's intention to engage businesses and others in stakeholder
consultations, to analyse significant proposals and assess impacts
on competitiveness as part of the impact assessment process, and
to conduct more ex-post evaluations (as set out in the recent
Communication on Smart Regulation);
- welcomes the Commission's intention to ensure
sustained application of the 'think small first' principle, and
will keep up the pressure on the EU to deliver the commitments
that have been made;
- also welcomes in principle the planned review
of the effectiveness of EU financial instruments in helping overcome
market failures in financing small businesses and innovation,
but says that decisions on financial support for programmes beyond
2013 cannot be made in isolation from the debate on the future
EU budget;
- welcomes many of the proposed actions to strengthen
the Single Market, particularly the creation of a High Level Group
on Business Services;
- Notes that the proposals on an industrial innovation
policy complement the Communication on Innovation Union, and agrees
that there is a need to encourage the faster development and commercialisation
of innovative goods and services, subject to the proviso that
it will be necessary to ensure that any EU actions are compatible
with the principles of open and competitive markets, encourage
industrial leadership, and respect Member State competences;
- welcomes the idea of an initiative to enhance
the uptake of Key Enabling Technologies, and says that it is working
with the Commission and other stakeholders to develop a mechanism
for identifying future such technologies and to determine what
policy and programme actions should be considered to overcome
any barriers to their successful adoption in the EU;
- broadly supports the forthcoming Communication
and legislative proposal on EU standardisation to promote a stronger
role for European standards-setting in a rapidly changing world
and society;
- agrees there is a need for EU industry to benefit
from market opening opportunities, and believes the initiatives
should be taken forward in a manner encouraging open markets,
rejecting all forms of protectionism, it being particularly important
to ensure that trade defence instruments are used only to address
unfair trade practices, and that the process for complaining and
commenting on investigations is improved to enable interested
parties, particularly SMEs and users (including consumers), to
provide evidence.
14.36 The Minister also notes that the Communication
briefly outlines a range of sectoral initiatives to encourage
competitiveness and a smooth transition to the low carbon economy,
and comments that the forthcoming Transport White Paper is (for
example) expected to contain specific proposals on how transport
can contribute to the completion of the Single Market in a sustainable
way. He says that other EU sectoral initiatives will be the subject
of separate Communications, and that the Government will consider
these on their merits, once more information is available. In
particular, information will be needed on the EU added value,
how they will be funded and to ensure national competence is not
infringed. He adds that, as regards planned procedures set out
in the Communication to improve EU governance for EU industrial
policy, the Government agrees that the annual reports can help
improve monitoring of the EU's and Member States' competitiveness
performance and industrial policies, and that it supports non-bureaucratic
efforts to share good practices, provided efforts to encourage
coordinated European policy responses do not infringe national
competence.
Conclusion
14.37 As is evident from both its title and its
length, this is an ambitious and wide-ranging document, which
seeks to provide a detailed analysis of the challenges facing
manufacturing industry within the EU and to suggest ways in which
these can be addressed, drawing in the process on a number of
existing proposals and on a range of further initiatives in the
pipeline. To that extent, it is clearly an important document,
which should be drawn to the attention of the House.
14.38 Having said that, the very breadth of the
document means that it lacks any degree of focus, its underlying
theme on the need to improve competitiveness is difficult to dispute,
and in general the approach advocated is one which appears in
numerous other Commission documents of this kind, involving greater
coordination and centralisation, coupled with improved enforcement,
greater transparency, and a further increase in the accountability
of Member States. Whether — and to what extent — this
is justified seems to us to depend upon the particular circumstances
of the different areas involved, and we therefore believe that
any further consideration by the House of the issues involved
is best undertaken in relation to the individual measures proposed,
rather than across-the-board. For that reason, we are clearing
the document.
61 (32067) 14421/10; see chapter 11 of this Report. Back
62
(29791) 11262/08: see HC 16-xxix (2007-08), chapter 8 (10 September
2008). Back
63
(32042) 14035/10: see HC 428-viii (2010-11), chapter 8 (17 November
2010). Back
64
(31638) 9981/10: See HC 428-i (2010-11), chapter 28 (8 September
2010). Back
65
(32190) 16183/10 Back
66
(30202) 16053/08: see HC 19-ii (2008-09), chapter 14 (17 December
2008). Back
67
(27155) 5901/06: see HC 34-xviii (2005-06), chapter 10 (8 February
2006). Back
68
(31577) 9073/10: see HC 428-i (2010-11), chapter 34 (8 September
2010). Back
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