Europe must compete for knowledge, not on costs, says Figel'
Although there is no evidence of a large-scale process of deindustrialisation in Europe, the EU must avoid any form of complacency, given the numerous challenges facing its economy. This message was delivered to participants at an industry policy day conference in Brussels on 27 May by recently appointed Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, Ján Figel'. Mr Figel' added that certainly the biggest challenge facing the EU is to facilitate the process of industrial change. '[W]e must avoid the temptation of sheltering industry from change. Such efforts would merely postpone, but by no means avoid, the inevitable changes; however, delaying such changes would ultimately make them more painful and costly,' argued Mr Figel'. According to the Commissioner, it should be obvious that, in the long term at least, Europe will not be able to compete globally on the basis of costs. 'In the long run, there is only one way forward: going up the value chain. This implies creating, using and incorporating constantly increasing amounts of knowledge.' In trying to put this vision into practice, Mr Figel' pointed to the Commission's communication on industrial policy, which he said amounted to an action plan for adopting such a knowledge-based approach. He reminded delegates that the Communication focussed on three main components. First, given the need to ensure that industry is not overburdened with regulation, efforts must be made by policy makers to better measure the impact of new legislation on business. Alternatives to regulation should also be looked for wherever feasible, he added. Second, the EU must make sure that all its policies contribute to reinforcing industrial competitiveness, and Mr Figel' suggested that the new Commission may like to explore how some EU policy areas could be better mobilised to meet this objective. Obvious candidates are research and development policy, competition policy and trade policy, which could be made the subject of specific communications in the coming months or years, and regional policy could also be given further consideration. The final component of the communication focuses on developing the sectoral dimension of industrial policy. Again, Mr Figel' had a suggestion for the new Commission, saying that it should improve its awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the European economy on a sector by sector basis. Some of these sectoral exercises have already been carried out, for instance in aerospace, textiles and shipbuilding, and others are planned in the automobile and mechanical engineering sectors, but the new Commission may wish to add others to this list, he said. Mr Figel' concluded by reminding delegates that it was not only up to the new Commission to take forward the new programme on industrial policy, but that the new European Parliament and Member States themselves also shared responsibility. 'It is not enough to quote the objectives established in the Lisbon or Göteborg European Councils. We also have to act to deliver these goals.'