UNICE presents wish list for forthcoming Competitiveness Council
UNICE, the grouping of EU industries, has outlined what it expects from the next EU Competitiveness Council, due to take place on 25 and 26 November. The wish list touches upon the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), as well as the proposed European Research Council (ERC). UNICE welcomes the Commission's recent communication on the future of science and technology in Europe, but stresses that innovation and competitiveness should be incorporated into all of the six major objectives outlined in the proposal. The organisation calls for measures to increase industry participation in the framework programmes, and stipulates that industry should also have a key role in the future ERC. '[T]he effective development of the European Research Council is only possible if industry has a role in directing the Research Council's attention to research in broad areas where Europe faces significant challenges,' claims UNICE. 'This can best be achieved if the board of the ERC is sourced as widely as possible from European society including representatives from industry,' it adds. UNICE also calls on the Competitiveness Council to become 'the guardian of competitiveness in Europe'. UNICE welcomed the analysis in the Wim Kok mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy, but was disappointed by the lack of solid recommendations in the report. The organisation 'strongly supports the report's emphasis on the need to create national ownership of the Lisbon Strategy, but regrets that the Competitiveness Council is not mentioned in the report, as it should play a key role in the revitalisation of the Lisbon Strategy and the peer pressure and benchmarking process advocated by the Kok report,' states the UNICE paper. UNICE is also hoping for favourable decisions on 'better regulation', the proposed new chemicals policy REACH, the Directive on services, and the Directive on cross-border mergers.