European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication on the state of the Competitiveness of the EU forest-based and related industries (COM(1999) 457 — C5-0306/2000 — 2000/2159 (COS))
Date: 2001-01-18
Institutions: Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, European Parliament
Subjects: common commercial policy, competitiveness, forest, forestry policy, greenhouse gas, management of resources, silviculture, sustainable development, waste management, wood industry

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8. Competitiveness of EU forest-based and related industries

A5-0384/2000

European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication on the state of the Competi-
tiveness of the EU forest-based and related industries (COM(1999) 457 ( C5-0306/2000 ( 2000/
2159 (COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission Communication (COM(1999) 457 (cid:1) C5-0306/2000),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 157 of the EC Treaty which lays down that the Community and the Member
States shall ensure that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Community’s industry
exist,

(cid:1) having regard to the Conclusions of the Industry Council of 9 November 1999 on the State of the
Competitiveness of the EU Forest-based and Related Industries, in which it is recognised that the
approach is broader than a traditional sectoral one (1),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission Communication entitled ‘A Forestry Strategy for

the EU’
(COM(1998) 649) and to the Council Resolution of 15 December 1998 on the same subject which,
in response to a request from the European Parliament, sets out a strategy focusing mainly on forests
and forestry and referring to the more detailed analysis of the forest-based industries in the Commi-
ssion Communication (2),

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 30 January 1997 on the European Union’s Forestry Strategy (3),

(cid:1) having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee of 24 April 1997 on ‘The situa-
tion and problems of forestry in the European Union and potential for developing forest policies’ (4),

(cid:1) having regard to the opinion of the Committee of Regions of 19 November 1997 on ‘Management,

use and protection of forests in the EU’ (5),

(cid:1) having regard to the moves towards the conclusion of an International Convention on Forests within

the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF),

(cid:1) having regard to the Kyoto Protocol and the results of the post-Kyoto conferences, the most recent of

which was held in The Hague on 13-24 November 2000,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission Green Paper on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Within the

European Union,

(cid:1) having regard to the Proposal for a Council Decision on a Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and
Entrepreneurship (2001-2005) (COM(2000) 256) (6) and to the document entitled ‘Towards Enterprise
Europe: A work programme for enterprise policy 2000-2005’,

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy and

the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A5-0384/2000),

A. whereas the EU Forest-based and Related Industries (FB-IND) comprise five sectors: woodworking,
pulp and paper production, paper and board processing, packaging and, for the time being, printing
and publishing,

(1) 12516/99 (Presse 330) p. 8, Brussels 9.11.1999.
(2) OJ C 56, 26.2.1999, p 1.
(3) OJ C 55, 24.2.1997, p. 22.
(4) OJ C 206, 7.7.1997, p. 128.
(5) OJ C 64, 27.2.1998, p. 25.
(6) OJ C 311, 31.10.2000, p. 180.

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B. whereas the EU FB-IND are also the focus of, and mutually interdependent on, a Forest Industries
Cluster (FIC) as defined in the Commission Communication, and whereas the cluster industries cover
sector-specific machinery and equipment, process control systems, furniture and wooden construction
elements for building purposes, and consulting services for the FB-IND,

Thursday 18 January 2001

C. whereas the EU FB-IND are facing intense cost competition within global markets, and whereas,
despite their steady growth, the FB-IND are characterised by marked cyclical fluctuations, variable
earnings and overcapacity,

D. whereas the FIC comprises industries that differ from each other: paper consumption growth is
strongly correlated to general economic development; the pulp and paper industries are capital-inten-
sive and energy-intensive; woodworking, printing and publishing are more labour-intensive; while tra-
ditional printing and advertisement-dependent publishing are being transformed into information and
knowledge industries with scientific, technical and medical journals already producing 30 % of their
journals in electronic format,

E. whereas, since forestry is an integral part of the FB-IND as forests provide raw material for the indus-
try, forestry can be regarded as the first stage of a forest-based industry chain; whereas two thirds of
EU forests are owned by 12 million private forest owners, who have a personal or family interest in
sustainable forestry, who have sustainably managed their forests from one generation to the next and
to whom the profitability of forestry is a prerequisite for sustainable forest management; and whereas
this ownership structure should be seen as a positive competitiveness factor for the industry,

F. whereas content generated through traditional publishing can be reorganised, repackaged, and used in
different forms, and whereas many publishers think of themselves as content creators rather than as
paper-based publishers,

G. whereas the Commission communication pays insufficient attention to publishing and its main com-

petitiveness factors,

H. whereas the print and electronic media complement each other, even though information, and not

wood, is the basic commodity of the information economy,

I. whereas the forests are among the most important renewable resources that Europe has, and whereas
the forest strategy must be based on the recognition of the diversity of European forests, their multi-
functional nature and the need for ecological, economic and social sustainability,

J. whereas European forests are growing faster than they are harvested, resulting in a potential for
increased utilisation of the European forest resources for production purposes bearing in mind the
ecological limitations as well as the economic, technical and socio-economic restrictions,

K. whereas the forest is a renewable source of raw material that provides wood fibres for the production
of timber products, pulp and paper, as well as energy, and whereas it can be economically viable to
produce renewable energy with raw materials that cannot be used for other purposes,

L. whereas bioenergy (including non-wood crops) is currently the second largest solar-derived commer-
cial renewable energy source after hydropower, perhaps even the largest if non-commercial consump-
tion is taken into account; whereas the Commission White Paper on renewable energies aims at dou-
bling the share of renewable energy sources to 12 % by 2010; and whereas the contribution of wood
energy production is expected to triple,

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M. whereas the coordination of national forestry policies must be based on respect for the principle of
subsidiarity, respecting local biodiversity and traditional landscape, and whereas the Treaties make no
provision for a specific Community forestry policy,

N. whereas responsibility for forestry policy lies with the Member States; whereas, however, pursuant to
the principle of subsidiarity and the concept of shared responsibility, the Community can contribute
positively to the implementation of sustainable forest management,

O. whereas environmental management schemes, such as EMAS and ISO 14001, are well suited to the
EU FB-IND, because of the industry’s capital-intensive nature and since a great number of its products
are primarily traded between businesses, and whereas the Community Eco-Label Award Scheme has
not proved successful in the paper products sector,

P. whereas forestry and forest-based commercial activities fall within the open sector of the economy and
whereas aspects related to forestry are not managed within the common agricultural policy (CAP),

Q. whereas an international convention on the protection and sustainable management of forests may
prove necessary, providing the necessary financial aid and technical assistance to support the efforts
of the countries concerned to conserve and manage their forests sustainably while respecting the
rights and needs of the native and indigenous peoples who should be involved in the planning of
forestry projects from the outset and should benefit from forestry development programmes,

R. whereas the coordination of the Member States’ research efforts already takes place within the context
of COST (European cooperation in the field of scientific and technical research), whereas this cooper-
ation has been useful, has eliminated much duplication and has targeted research sensibly towards
topical research issues,

1. Welcomes this important initiative in which the Commission takes an approach broader than tradi-
tional sectoral approaches, which indicates a new thinking on industrial policy although it does not take
sufficient account of the special features of the various sectors;

2.
Recalls that peat is commonly used as a wood substitute both as a fuel in combined heat and power
production (CHP) and as a fertiliser, and that peatlands are afforested to produce timber as a raw material
for the FB-IND, and requests that the peat industries should also be included in the FIC;

3.
Recalls the Lisbon statements, in which the EU was set the objective of becoming the world’s most
competitive and dynamic economy, and calls for this objective also to be put into practice in the forestry
sector;

4.
Stresses that the forest-based industry can and should become a model sector in the field of sustain-
able development because its activities are based on renewable natural resources, that it contributes effec-
tively to the binding of carbon in forests and wood products and that, with effective management of the
product cycle, it also operates in an environmentally sustainable way;

5.
Notes that its abovementioned resolution on the forest strategy of the European Union states that
forests are the most important renewable resource that Europe has, that the commercial utilisation of
forests should be a priority of EU forest strategy, which should be integrated with the use of forests for
other purposes, and that the forest strategy must be based on the recognition of the diversity of European
forests, their multi-functional nature and the need for ecological, economic and social sustainability; urges
the Commission to actively implement this strategy;

6.
Urges the Commission to strengthen its internal coordination in dealing with matters relating to the
forestry sector without delay in accordance with the Council’s forestry strategy, by giving overall respon-
sibility to the Directorate-General for Agriculture and ensuring that it has sufficient staff resources for this
sector;

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7.
Calls on the Commission to strengthen co-ordination and coherence within the sectoral Community
policies having an impact on the forestry sector and on FB-IND, in order to improve the competitiveness
of the EU FB-IND;

8.
Stresses the importance in regional policy of SMEs working in forestry and forest-based industries,
particularly as employers in rural areas, and recommends that the Commission investigate the available
Community regional policy tools for increasing the opportunities in the forest-based industries to create
employment in thinly-populated areas as cost-effectively as possible;

9.
Reminds the Commission that forestry, which forms the first part of the wood chain, must be sus-
tainable and profitable in order to contribute positively to the competitiveness of the forest-based and
related industries and sustainable development;

Recalls that the essence of a newspaper, a magazine, a book or a directory is not only paper but

10.
content as well and that the content-providing industries of the FIC have the greatest growth potentials;

11.
Notes that there is a multitude of small and medium-sized FB-IND enterprises, especially within the
woodworking, printing and publishing sectors, which make a strong positive contribution to employment
especially within rural areas;

Calls on the Commission, when preparing the national targets for the renewable energy resources,

12.
not to omit national data on availability of wood;

Calls on the Commission to recognise and take into account that, within the context of the e-Eur-
13.
ope initiative, the EU FB-IND are among the key industrial sectors which are particularly well-positioned to
use opportunities provided by information technology for their forest management, wood procurement,
industrial processes, products and trading methods;

Urges the Commission to bring about without delay efficient internal coordination in dealing with
14.
matters relating to the forest sector in accordance with the Council’s abovementioned resolution on the
EU’s forest strategy, and to ensure that it has sufficient resources for this sector;

Recommends that the Community should work towards ensuring that the United Nations Forum on
15.
Forests (UNFF) is launched as soon as possible and works efficiently to ensure that global minimum criteria
for sustainable forests management are established, in order to prevent actors within competing regions
from taking unfair advantage of inferior standards;

16.
Encourages the Commission to pay particular attention to the possibility of providing financial
assistance to meet the needs of the EU Forest Industry Cluster (FIC), especially in connection with full
scale demonstration and testing, in drafting the successor to the EU Fifth R&D Framework Programme;
stresses that the Research and Development Framework Programme must take comprehensive account of
the whole timber production chain;

17.
Encourages the Commission to examine the possibility of supporting EU and Member States’
research projects which aim to use forest raw materials in a variety of new ways, in particular in the
production of extremely valuable raw materials, e.g. for medical purposes;

Encourages the Commission to allocate resources to research into new ways of using wood as a

18.
renewable and environmentally friendly resource and material;

19.
Notes that the oceans as well as the forests are major sinks and storages of carbon dioxide as they
reduce and store carbon from the atmosphere, and that the capacity of forest soils to absorb carbon is
even greater than that of trees;

20.
Notes that in calculating the amount of carbon sequestered in forests, changes in the present grow-
ing stock of forests should also be taken into account, not only changes in the forms of land use after the
year 1990, because this would mean that most of the public and private forests available for wood supply
would not be calculated as an offset to greenhouse gas emissions;

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Notes that wood and paper products, in particular the more durable products, play a significant role

21.
in climate change, through the extension of the carbon sink effects to forests;

Calls on the Community, in its negotiations at global level and in its own policy-making, to pay
22.
attention to the significant role of forests and wooden products in binding and storing carbon; urges the
Community, in the global negotiations on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, to promote sustain-
able forest management and the increased use of wood and wood-based products especially when discuss-
ing the definitions in Article 3(3) and (4) of the Protocol;

Notes that, as Europe does not possess great afforestation potential, there is no alternative in the

23.
long run to implementing the Kyoto Protocol if an absolute reduction of emissions is to be achieved;

24.
Recalls that the EU FB-IND are the largest industrial users of wood-based bioenergy in the Com-
munity, and that the Commission has, in its proposal on the promotion of renewable energy resources,
proposed that the use of renewable energy resources for electricity production be considerably increased
within the Member States;

25.
Recalls that combined heat and power production (CHP) is an efficient means of utilising fuels and
reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and that the taxation of energy products should not make CHP uneco-
nomical;

26.
Recommends that the Commission explore ways of reviewing the manner in which Directive 75/
442/EEC on waste, as amended by 91/156/EEC, is applied to EU FB-IND products, by-products, residues
and process wastes, in order to overcome obstacles caused by the aforementioned Directive to the envir-
onmentally and economically sound recovery of EU FB-IND products, by-products, residues and process
wastes;

Considers it important that the Community improve waste management through a comprehensive
27.
approach including cost-effective recycling, energy recovery and innovative solutions for final disposal by
finding the best means and waste disposal form (liquid, gaseous or solid) to reduce emissions effectively.
The paper collected for recycling should not be included in the legal definition of waste;

28.
Recalls that recovered paper contributes to the reduction of household and commercial waste going
into landfills and hence of methane emissions, and recommends that it be left to the pulp and paper
industry to decide how to manage the production and use of recycled fibres;

29.
Recalls that labour unions are often concerned at the undervaluing of skill investments compared
with hardware investments, that life-long learning is one of the prerequisites for sustainable competitive-
ness, and that higher wages may be associated with higher productivity, and that the scarce availability of
skilled labour may in the very near future become a serious threat to the prosperity of the EU FB-IND;

30.
Recalls that people who create, process, and distribute knowledge are the primary assets of firms in
knowledge industries and asks the Commission to examine carefully where, within its own services, the
future development of the publishing industry would be best looked after;

Calls on the Commission and Member States to create a balanced legal framework for copyright

31.
rules;

32.
Encourages the Commission to continue its efforts to harmonise stringent copyright rules in the
European Union in order to protect European content, thus contributing to protection for content owners
by adequate harmonisation of intellectual property right rules in an information society without borders;

33.
Considers that, since the mass media are the backbone of an open and democratic society in the
same way as literacy and cultural diversity, there is a universal need for new skills in the use of informa-
tion technology and its new applications and solutions, given that media competence will soon be as
important as reading and writing;

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34.
Considers that there is an urgent need to improve and reduce the costs of telecommunication ser-
vices within the internal market, because trans-border connection costs are highly disadvantageous for
European enterprises in the information and knowledge industries;

35.
Recalls that the factors affecting European publishing competitiveness include liberalisation of the
postal market, VAT harmonisation, copyright and piracy problems, multi-media convergence and e-com-
merce;

Calls on the Commission to ensure that the European publishing industry can benefit from compe-

36.
titive paper prices;

37.
Recalls that publishers rely on postal services for delivery of publications sold by subscription, and
that the directives on postal services have a marked impact on the competitiveness of the publishing
sector; requests the Commission to pay more attention to publishing within the DG responsible for busi-
nesses, and possibly to organise a hearing with the content-providing industry;

Recalls the excellent properties of wood as a construction material and urges the Community to

38.
promote its use;

Recalls the importance of the rapid and correct implementation of the Construction Products Direc-

39.
tive;

Requests that the specific problems of the forestry sector be taken into account in the Union’s

40.
general trade policies and in all trade negotiations;

41.
Recalls that Parliament has requested the Commission to submit an effective action plan to combat
environmental and social dumping in relation to imports of timber into the EU, and in view of the impor-
tance of the elimination of barriers to trade for European woodworking products, requests the Commission
in all negotiations to strive for fair trade with respect to tariff and non-tariff barriers and to work towards
the harmonisation of international standards, certification and tests, as well as their mutual recognition;

42.
Recalls that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe applying for EU membership must develop
sustainable forestry and forest-based industries, and that any EU aid must not lead to a distortion in the
conditions of competition in forestry and the timber market;

43.
Considers that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have a great deal of potential in the
timber-processing and related industries; also considers that the EU must consider the social consequences
of the relocation of business to countries of Central and Eastern Europe, e.g. by developing plans for the
retraining of workers or by encouraging a shift towards new products and/or services;

44.

Calls on the Community to implement these measures effectively;

45.
Considers that matters relating to forest and forest-based industries should be included, in accor-
dance with the subsidiarity principle, in elementary and vocational school curricula providing information
about different vocational training and retraining possibilities, thus contributing to life-long learning;

46.
Considers that a forest-based industry forum is an important channel for disseminating information
about the operating conditions of the forest-based industry, but also urges the Community to draw up a
campaign to promote the use of timber and timber products and to cooperate with international organisa-
tions such as the FAO so as to ensure that initiatives to improve the operating conditions and raise the
profile of the forestry sector complement each other as effectively as possible;

47.
Supports the active role of the advisory committee on the forest-based industries and stresses the
need for cooperation between it and the Commission’s other advisory committees working in the forestry
sector;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and the parlia-

48.
ments of the Member States.