In a communication entitled “For a European Industrial Renaissance,” adopted on January 22, the European Commission calls on the Member States to recognize the central importance of industry for job creation and growth, and to include competitiveness concerns across all policy areas. They need to mobilize to strengthen the old continent’s industrial base and raise the contribution of industry to GDP to as much as 20%. While he doesn’t believe in the “economic fatalism” that would condemn the European industry to be less competitive than its partners, José Manuel Barroso, President of the Commission, pointed to the need for a political answer, thus calling on the Member States to make “concrete decisions” at the next European summit on March 20-21. European unions criticize a communication that gives deregulation a good deal and doesn’t care about creating quality jobs.
Integrated approach of industrial competitiveness. According to the communication, the crisis has emphasized the stakes of a strong industrial base to withstand economic gusts. The Commission reminds that, far from being limited to manufacturing activities, the industry interacts with the entire economic fabric in Europe, for raw materials and energy to business services (logistics), consumer services (after-sales services for durable goods) or tourism. Industry accounts for over 80% of...
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