Industrial policy in an enlarged Europe - conference update
Current chairman of the EU Competitiveness Council, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, will join Commission President Romano Prodi and Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, at a conference in Brussels on 21 January to examine the effectiveness of industrial policy within Europe. The event aims to launch a broad public debate on the industrial policy challenges and opportunities that Europe needs to take up in order to deliver on citizens' rising environmental, employment and social expectations, particularly within the context of the enlargement process. The registration deadline for the event has been extended to 15 January. Other contributors will include UNICE President Georges Jacobs, UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt, and German Labour and Economics Minister Wolfgang Clement. Following its publication of a communication on the subject in December 2002, the Commission has called on Member States, Community institutions and other interested parties to react to the document, and examine their own industrial policies in light of the communication.