Council Conclusions of 27 November 2003 on the contribution of industrial policy to European competitiveness
Date: 2003-11-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU industrial policy, aerospace industry, competitiveness, shipbuilding, textile industry

C 317/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2003

COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

of 27 November 2003

on the contribution of industrial policy to European competitiveness

(2003/C 317/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

I. IN RELATION TO HORIZONTAL ISSUES

1. RECALLING:

sectors in the European Union, including those with a
high growth potential;

— Community and national policies, whilst pursuing their
primary objectives, should also contribute to improving
the framework conditions for European competitiveness
and to creating a favourable environment for enterprise;

— the Commission communication on ‘an integrated

approach to competitiveness’ (1);

— the contents of the ‘Competitiveness report (2003)’ (2),
the ‘Innovation
aids
‘State
the

the ‘Enterprise scoreboard (2003)’ (3),
scoreboard (2003)’ (4)
scoreboard (2003)’ (5) drawn up by the Commission;

as well

as

2. RECOGNISING that:

— a fully integrated approach to enhance competitiveness
synergies and complementarities

requires coherence,
between policies;

— industrial competitiveness is one of the key areas where

such an integrated approach is required;

— both the European Union and the Member States have
active roles to play in successfully developing this
approach;

— it is essential to continue to develop, where necessary,
the means
to
industrial policy undertaken by the Member States and
by the European Union to meet the objectives set by the
Lisbon strategy;

coordinating activities

relevant

for

— all policies related to enhancing competitiveness should
be based on a careful analysis of the relevant aspects, as
well as on an equilibrium between the economic, social
and environmental pillars of sustainable development;

— sectorial analysis should contribute to sharpening hori-
zontal policies and to addressing the needs of industrial

(1) See doc. 15287/03 COMPET 70 IND 171 MI 299 RECH 234 ECO

251 ECOFIN 382.

(2) See doc. 15217/03 COMPET 69 IND 169 MI 296 RECH 231

ECOFIN 375 ECO 249.

(3) See doc. 15036/03 COMPET 63 IND 165 MI 292 ECO 244.
(4) See doc. 14793/03 COMPET 61 IND 159 MI 282 RECH 205.
(5) See doc. 14584/03 RC 13 ECO 221.

— open and transparent consultation of stakeholders and
ongoing assessment of the impact on EU enterprises of
all major legislative and other proposals are needed;
while the Commission's proposal on chemicals is a
first
the
Commission's annual work programme will provide an
important basis for systematic impact assessment by
helping to identify other proposals likely to have a
significant impact on competitiveness;

implementing

approach,

case

this

for

— social dialogue constitutes an important element for a

successful industrial policy;

— it

is necessary to improve the European industrial
framework with a view to avoiding de-industrialisation,
and that further analysis is needed in this respect;

3. WELCOMES the report by the Commission services on
innovation and
competitiveness, as well as the enterprise,
State aids scoreboards, which are important instruments for
developing a systematic analysis of the state of competi-
tiveness of the EU economy;

4. TAKES NOTE of the findings of these reports and, as a result,

UNDERLINES in particular that:

— prospects for

living in the
raising the standard of
European Union are directly related to enhancing the
competitiveness of EU enterprises across all sectors:
additional actions to increase both employment and
labour productivity are needed to meet the objectives
of the Lisbon strategy;

— positive developments

in terms of

ICT
investment,
internet penetration and commercial use,
as well as e-government need to be complemented by
organisational
their full
potential;

innovation, so as to exploit

innovation,

— delays in achieving the Lisbon objectives need to be
addressed both by structural reforms and by appro-
priately
competitive
innovation and providing venture capital
conditions,
and guarantee mechanisms
and
at
regional levels;

entrepreneurship,

EU, national

stimulating

30.12.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 317/3

— education, lifelong learning, the qualification level of the
workforce and the quality of work output are important
factors for European industrial competitiveness;

— continue efforts to extend e-government and encourage

the commercial use of the Internet;

— for growth prospects to be strengthened, and thus to
create more employment, the EU and Member States
must encourage high productivity and competitiveness,
as well as those aimed at facilitating structural change
and industrial modernisation, bearing in mind the chal-
lenges and opportunities resulting from enlargement.

In response to the foregoing considerations:

5.

INVITES European Industry to:

its

— use its technological and organisational excellence to
improve
attain market
leadership, notably through increased investments in
RTD,
the
workforce;

innovation and

competitiveness

training of

improved

and

— make use of

the specific competences and skills of
workers and enterprises in the acceding countries for
improving Europe's position in global markets;

— continue to adapt in order to meet the challenge of

global competition;

— assume its corporate social responsibility for improving

the competitiveness of European industry;

6.

INVITES the Member States and the Commission, within
their respective competences, to:

— implement

structural

reforms and policy measures
aimed at achieving a business environment conducive
to entrepreneurship, innovation and industrial competi-
tiveness taking into account the principle of better regu-
lation;

— encourage enterprises to increase investment, innovation
and productivity in order to create growth and jobs,
including through venture capital and clustering, as
well as organisational innovation;

— continue initiatives aimed at strengthening industrial
competitiveness, notably by taking into account
the
needs and specificities of individual sectors;

— further improve methods of applying impact assessment

to regulatory proposals;

— encourage the increase of

labour productivity in the

industrial sector;

— facilitate management of

industrial change,

inter alia

through promoting foresight studies;

— set voluntary targets in the area of innovation, as a basis
for the Commission's periodic assessments of progress
made;

— after undertaking analysis,

take action: either in the
regulatory field in accordance with the principle of
better regulation, or in the area of fostering research,
innovation and entrepreneurship, where appropriate
through the open method of coordination;

7. LOOKS FORWARD to receiving from the Commission:

— the Action Plan on Entrepreneurship referred to in its

Conclusions of 3 March 2003 (1);

— an Innovation Action Plan with specific actions aimed at
mobilising resources and policies in order to boost the
innovative performance of European enterprises;

— a Communication in the first half of 2004 which will
report on follow-up activities, notably the application of
industrial policy to specific
screening
exercise and the issue of de-industrialisation with a
view to improving the impact of EU policies on the
competitiveness of industry;

sectors,

the

8. UNDERTAKES, with a view to providing a structured
indicating

contribution to the Spring European Council,
priority actions to examine in depth:

— the overall state of competitiveness of

in

cooperation with

notably,
proposals having a significant
tiveness,

the EU and
Commission,
impact on competi-

the

— the Commission's communication on an integrated

approach to competitiveness.

II.

IN RELATION TO SECTORIAL ISSUES

1. RECALLING the Commission's communications on:

— ‘The future of the textiles and clothing sector in the

Enlarged European Union’ (2);

— ‘LeaderSHIP 2015 — Defining the Future of

the
European Shipbuilding and Ship-Repair Industry —
Competitiveness through Excellence’ (3);

(1) OJ C 64, 18.3.2003.
(2) See doc. 14314/03 COMPET 56 IND 149 MI 269 RECH 190 ECO

217 TEXT 17 WTO 115.

(3) See doc. 15288/03 COMPET 71 IND 172 MI 300 RC 20 RECH

235 ECO 252 ECOFIN 383 WTO 131.

C 317/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2003

— ‘A coherent Framework for Aerospace — a Response to

the STAR 21 Report’ (1);

in order
property rights,
sector that continues to provide employment;

to strengthen a competitive

2. RECALLING the Commission's communication on ‘Industrial
policy in an enlarged Europe’ (2), as well as the Council
Conclusions of 13 May 2003 on ‘Industrial competi-
tiveness in an enlarged Europe’ (3), where,
inter alia, the
Commission was invited to establish concrete ways in
which industrial policy can contribute to achieving the
Lisbon objectives;

3. REITERATING the need to ensure that EU horizontal policies
aiming at securing framework conditions favourable to
industrial competitiveness take into account the specific
needs and characteristics of individual sectors, as well as
those of small and medium enterprises, in particular new
the implemen-
innovative SMEs; ACKNOWLEDGING that
for Small Enterprises
tation of
plays a significant role in this respect;

the European Charter

4. WELCOMES

the
to

the
initiatives proposed so far by
competitiveness,
European
improve
Commission
notably in the individual
sectors addressed
industrial
below including interrelated areas and looks forward to
receiving further Commission communications in relation
to other important industrial sectors.

Regarding TEXTILES AND CLOTHING:

5. RECOGNISES that:

to industrial and technical products,
contributor

— while the textile and clothing industry, from synthetic
is an
employment,
in the enlarged European
impact on the

fibres
important
production and export
Union,
economy of certain regions;

a particular

also has

overall

to

it

7. NOTES

— the importance for the competitiveness of

the EU
textiles and clothing sector of ensuring a positive
trade policy framework to allow open and fair trade,
in particular better access to third countries' markets;

— the important contribution that could be given by
the Euro-Mediterranean

speedy entry into force of
Free Trade Area;

8. STRESSES the importance of encouraging the efforts of
stakeholders to reinforce corporate social responsibility,
and, on a voluntary basis, to promote ‘ethical commerce’
based for example on labelling;

9. WELCOMES the intention of the Commission to create a
High-level Group with representatives of Member States
and stakeholders in order to stimulate the debate on the
situation and on the future of the textiles and clothing
sector in the enlarged EU and on possible initiatives and
recommendations
sector's
at
adjustment to the challenges ahead.

facilitating

aimed

the

In response to the foregoing considerations:

10.

in line with overall Community
INVITES Member States,
policies, to take appropriate action so that the European
textile and clothing sector can face its challenges, inter alia
through research, education and training;

— the European textile and clothing sector is facing new
and continuous challenges, in particular the abolition
on 1 January 2005 of quantitative restrictions (quotas),
a permanent process of restructuring and modern-
isation as well as a marked slowdown in economic
activity, production and employment;

11.

INVITES the Commission to regularly inform the Council
on the results of
the high-level group discussions on
textiles and clothing and report back, for the first time
before the end of July 2004, on initiatives deemed appro-
priate in this respect, which may take the form of an
Action Plan.

— the textile and clothing industry has high capacity for
development and innovation, readiness to learn from
‘success stories’ and ability to adapt itself to change;

Regarding SHIPBUILDING:

12. RECOGNISES

6. STRESSES the strategic importance of the interaction of
different policies such as research and development, inno-
information and communication technologies,
vation,
intellectual
vocational

training and the protection of

(1) See doc. 13705/03 COMPET 49 IND 140 RECH 176 TRANS 263

POLARM 24.

(2) See doc. 5078/03 IND 1 ECO 2.
(3) OJ C 149, 26.6.2003.

goods

— the strategic dimension of shipbuilding and ship repair
for Europe, particularly with regard to: the trade in
export,
for
manufactured
and
employment opportunities,
including those provided
by the marine equipment industry, defence needs, the
competitiveness of ports and maritime activities in
Europe,
the development of advanced technologies
and the retaining of know-how;

import

30.12.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 317/5

— the important role that

the European shipbuilding
industry should play, together with Community insti-
tutions and Member States,
in the improvement of
maritime safety and global environmental protection,
promoting intermodality, by means of the appropriate
instruments and programmes and with regard to the
successful development of short sea shipping;

— the trade distortions and overcapacity which still affect

the world market for shipbuilding;

13. STRESSES that the EU should maintain a policy approach
aimed at enhancing the industrial competitiveness of this
sector; particular efforts are needed regarding:

— the development and harmonisation of rules and regu-

lations affecting the European defence market;

— EU State aid rules on investment in innovation, where
the shipbuilding industry
the specific conditions of
should be taken into account,
in order to allow the
implementation of workable and effective programmes
aiming at maintaining the technological leadership of
the European industry;

— full use of

the possibilities of Member States

to
encourage research, development and innovation in
an effective way;

— protection of intellectual property rights by Member
States and industry, by making full use of
the
existing instruments as well as by examining the possi-
bility of strengthening the enforcement of international
patent rules applicable to shipbuilding;

— facilitating a consolidation process among European
producers
adequate
the
framework conditions by the Member States and by
the Commission;

creation

through

of

— encouraging approaches designed to bring about
greater cooperation between naval and civilian ship-
building resources in Europe, based on market mech-
anisms involving companies in the areas of commercial
and naval shipbuilding and marine equipment;

— analysing and addressing new skill

requirements,
ideally in the context of the social dialogue within
the sector.

In response to the foregoing considerations:

15.

INVITES the Commission to:

— continue efforts in the framework of WTO and OECD
to establish, at a global level, fair competition in the
shipbuilding industry;

— examine

the consequences of

the
shipbuilding,
temporary defensive mechanism for
particularly in connection with the timetable for the
WTO dispute settlement procedure;

expiry of

the

— inform the Council regularly on the results of

the
LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative and to report on the
implementation of
its recommendations before the
end of 2004;

— examine,

together with the shipbuilding industry,
whether a European entity, such as e.g. the European
Investment Bank, could take a leading role in pre- and
post-delivery financing for shipbuilding projects.

Regarding AEROSPACE:

16. RECOGNISES that the aerospace industry:

— engenders and promotes key skills and technologies, is
an important driver for innovation and helps maintain
global competition across a wide range of products in
commercial and strategic markets;

— brings together several segments, such as civil aero-
important
and space,
European
require

nautics, defence
market
dimension so as to increase competitiveness;

and that
stronger

segments

a

17. STRESSES the need for:

— a consolidated industrial and institutional approach to
maintain and develop the European space industry,
in
while noting the good progress being made
relation to Galileo and the Global Monitoring for
Environment and Security (GMES) and in relation to
developing the cooperation between the European
Space Agency and the European Union;

— better

coordination of

defence-related
aerospace programmes at a European level, as well as
for the efficient allocation of resources;

civil

and

— a fully operational European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA), to provide the EU with a suitable regulatory
environment capable of meeting its internal and inter-
national needs;

14.

INVITES Member States,
in line with overall Community
policies, to take appropriate action so that the European
shipbuilding sector can face its challenges;

— improving technology transfer, in particular in relation

to SMEs working as subcontractors;

C 317/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2003

18. ACKNOWLEDGES the Commission's proposed preparatory
action on security research and TAKES NOTE of
the
ongoing work leading to the planned creation of an inter-
governmental agency in the field of defence capabilities,
development, research, acquisition and armaments.

In response to the foregoing considerations:

19.

INVITES the Member States and the Commission, within
their respective competences, to:

Agreement and the Action Plan for implementing the
European Space Policy (1);

— pursue the ongoing efforts in relation to the European
Aviation Safety Agency becoming fully operational;

— take the necessary steps, as appropriate, to continue to
back the implementation of the agency in the field of
defence capabilities development, research, acquisition
and armaments, including continuing the efforts of the
Member States in liaison with the Commission towards
the creation of an internationally competitive EU
defence market, as appropriate.

— continue, in cooperation with ESA, the ongoing efforts
to develop a coherent European space policy, taking
into account the provisions of the EC-ESA Framework

(1) See doc. 14886/03 RECH 211 COMPET 62 IND 164 TRANS 293

POLARM 36.

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 27 November 2003

on equal access to and participation of women and men in the knowledge society for growth and
innovation

(2003/C 317/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. RECALLING:

linked with ICTs and in particular groups such as unem-
ployed women; and

that one of the objectives of the European Union is to
eliminate inequalities and to promote equality between
men and women in all its activities;

the Lisbon Strategy, which drew attention to the importance
of equipping all citizens with the skills needed to live and
work in the knowledge-based society, and to the need to
raise the present employment rate of women;

the European Councils in Brussels (March 2003), Seville,
Barcelona and Nice, which in turn:

— WELCOMED the strengthening of

the implementation,
coordination and follow-up of gender equality and
gender mainstreaming in the European Union and
requested that employment guidelines should address
inter alia entrepreneurship and gender equality;

— ENDORSED the objectives of the Commission's Action
Plan for eEurope 2005 — an information society for
the
all,
workforce with the key
the
knowledge-based society;

addressing the need to provide
required for
skills

thereby

— UNDERLINED that the European Social model

includes
the fight against all
that
gender equality at work must underpin the trans-
formation to the knowledge-based economy and that
more and better jobs are the key to social inclusion;

forms of discrimination,

the Council Resolution of June 2001 on Science and Society
and on Women in Science (1), which invited
the
to
Commission to continue
promote the role of women in science and technology,
and in particular within the sixth framework programme;

and intensify its

effort

the Council Conclusions of March 2003 on the Promotion
of Entrepreneurship and small firms (2), which stressed the
need to encourage women entrepreneurs in order to create
more new innovative and competitive firms;

the Council Conclusions of May 2003 on Adapting
e-Business Policies in a Changing Environment (3), which
underlined the need to narrow and close e-skills gaps and
the need for inclusiveness of the entire available potential
labour pool addressing in particular the severe under-repre-
sentation of women in the ICT workforce;

— CALLED UPON the Council to ensure that all citizens are
well equipped with basic qualifications, especially those

(1) OJ C 199, 14.7.2001, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 64, 18.3.2003, p. 6-8.
(3) OJ C 149, 26.6.2003, p. 7-9 and Doc. 9857/03.