A sectoral approach to improving European competitiveness
Industrial representatives, academics and policy makers gathered at the European Competitiveness Conference in Brussels on 9 December to discuss how public policy can best contribute to an improvement in Europe's productivity growth and broader industrial competitiveness. The final session focussed on a sectoral approach to competitiveness, with interventions from key stakeholders in Europe's shipbuilding and pharmaceutical industries. Corrado Antonini, Chairman of 'EUROYARDS', outlined how the European shipbuilding industry is working together with the Commission and others to tackle competitive pressures that are weighing heavily on the sector. Although the rapid growth of China as a trading partner had brought major opportunities for the shipbuilding industry, the flip side of this coin was that Asian shipbuilders had launched a major drive to dominate the global market in this sector, he said. Often offering vessels below cost price, Asian industry has effectively driven the US out of the shipbuilding market, leading to a situation where Europe is its only real competitor. With Asia currently holding almost three quarters of global market share, Europe - with approximately one quarter - faces a major challenge to maintain a foothold in the shipbuilding industry. The importance of Europe succeeding could not be clearer, said Mr Antonini, given the strategic importance of shipbuilding and the fact that 90 per cent of world trade is carried out through the use of ships. In this context, industry representatives, the European Parliament and Commission, as well as suppliers and trade unions have come together to launch the 'LeaderSHIP 2015' initiative. Learning from previous experience that restructuring at the level of individual companies is not enough, the stakeholders have now agreed on a range of measures to boost the industry, which should start producing concrete results as early as next year, said Mr Antonini. A long term research and development (R&D) strategy was seen as particularly important, he said, with all parties agreeing to focus particular attention on support for prototyping - a area of technology development that is vital to Europe's attempts to make gains in niche markets. The LeaderSHIP partners also agreed on financing initiatives and formed a European pool of expertise in the area of intellectual property - a move which should lead to a reduction in costs for the shipbuilding industry. While Mr Antonini's presentation highlighted the benefits of good public-private collaboration, Jean Stephenne, President of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, was less satisfied with European regulators, calling on them to take the needs of his sector into account in a more systematic way. Europe is regarded as a 'hostile and turbulent market' for pharmaceuticals, said Mr Stephenne, because of factors like delays in market access for new products and the absence of market pricing for medicines in most Member States. Indeed, Europe had lost its leadership position in the pharmaceuticals sector partly because the US has shown more political will to support the industry in its regulatory and technology policies, according to Mr Stephenne. Apart from establishing a more efficient and predictable regulatory model, Europe also needs to encourage more research cooperation and the building of a critical mass for pharmaceutical R&D, he said. This should involve more cooperation between multinational corporations, such as GlaxoSmithKline, and smaller companies and universities. The EU should also follow the US example and raise its public investment in defence and health research, argued Mr Stephenne. Through such measures, and through a development of the Sixth Framework Programme, Europe could benefit more from the immense opportunities of cutting edge biotechnology, he concluded.