Commission's enterprise policy will promote sustainable development, says Liikanen
Erkki Liikanen, EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, has described how the Commission's enterprise policies will contribute to achieving the programme on sustainable development agreed in Johannesburg. Speaking in Brussels on 25 October at a meeting hosted by Orgalime, a federation of European industry groups from the mechanical, electrical and metals sectors, Mr Liikanen said that that economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection should go hand in hand. Commission policies on European business and competitiveness could help to maintain this three-tiered approach to sustainable development - a strategy launched at Gothenburg in June 2001. 'Enterprise policy, with its key focus on competitiveness, helps ensure high and stable levels of economic growth, thus providing the essential resources to tackle environmental pressures and reinforce social cohesion,' said the Commissioner. Mr Liikanen also drew a link between enterprise policy and measures to promote sustainable production. He described four Commission communications currently in preparation that will deal specifically with this area, including an action plan on environmental technologies for which the Enterprise DG will contribute to an issue group on sustainable production patterns. The Commissioner stressed, however, that achieving sustainable development 'entails a process in which a wide variety of actors, including European and national policy-makers, the business community and civil society, bear a shared responsibility.' He urged industry to publicise its achievements and future plans for promoting sustainability, and highlighted the improved environmental performance of European manufacturing over the last twenty years. Mr Liikanen also sought to ease concerns surrounding the numerous environmental regulations that the EU has introduced in recent years, including legislation on batteries, packaging and noise. He said that such measures should be viewed as harmonisation initiatives, which reduce the burden on companies by pre-empting uncoordinated national regulation on the same subjects. The Commissioner ended by saying that in his work, his aim will be: 'to focus on promoting best practices by industry, on the improvement of a coherent and predictable legislative framework, on the examination of non-regulatory barriers, and on voluntary approaches.'