Debate: Revised industrial strategy for Europe
Date: TUESDAY, 18 MAY 2021
Speaker: Margrethe Vestager
Language: EN

I would like to read to you what is for me a core of our update, because it states the necessary cooperation, but also that we each have our responsibility. It’s the latter part of page 5. ‘The readiness for change is high. Competitive sustainability enabled by new, often digital technologies and services remain our goal. Businesses are the best placed to determine how to become competitive and leaders in their sectors and at finding solutions to their challenges. Where necessary, our industrial policy should then benefit from agile forms of public-private partnership and new forms of cooperation between private and public sectors to accelerate the delivery of innovative solutions that would not have been achieved otherwise. For an inclusive transition, a well-functioning social dialogue will be key.’ And this is indeed for us really important because there is a responsibility on industry here as well. And one of the really impressive things during these many months of the pandemic preparing the recovery and resilience funds – and all the planning that has gone into that, you know the work that you have done on the regulation to enable it – has been the response from industry saying ‘stay on track’. Stay on the track for sustainability, we have made the plans, we are ready for change. Because of the value that will be created in fighting climate change, because of the value that will be created in digitalising, because of the jobs that will be created here in Europe, in leveraging that competitiveness that comes from making our strategies come true.  And I will recommend the working papers. This is really substantial analytical work that allows us to base our policies on facts, because we’re not 100% depending on China. This analysis shows 5 000 different products, zooming in on 137 where we have dependencies. Zooming in again on 34 where we really have to take care.  And the good news, of course, is that we already have an action plan on raw materials. Because we prepared this for a long time. We had the original industrial strategy a year ago. In the meantime the action plan on raw material has come, and that is really important. On the European-backed vaccine strategy, one can have different opinions: in my view it has not failed. We’re rolling out vaccine after vaccine after vaccine while at the same time playing our international role. And this shows that we’re not just here for ourselves, we’re also here for this planet when it comes to making sure that eventually everyone will be vaccinated. In Europe half of the vaccines produced here are being exported.  And that is what will gain us real ground for European industry to work because that is the key to opening the world and opening the markets that our industries depend on.  What you will also see is that when it comes to the real driver of industry, which is the single market, we have a fully fledged not strategy but workings on the ground, hands-on every day. The first thing of course is the single market task force, because the problem is that there is a comeback in the single market. You saw it during the pandemic: the lack of mobility for people, for goods, for services; because we need common standards in services for this service market really to work. And here the single market task force is there with Member States to make all of these barriers come down again, so within Europe we can benefit from a single market.  Second, that we have a single market emergency tool because it will come back to haunt us that borders came up, that we had the queues of lorries, that it took some time for the Commission actually to establish the green lanes. That will come back to haunt us, because that was not the case in the United States. That was not the case in many African countries. It was not the case in China that the borders came back up.  Last but not least, FDI screening, because of course we need security; the strategy for digital sovereignty also when it comes to digital security; and of course the foreign subsidies tools that will allow us to enable fair competition within the Union.  I really appreciate the many words said about investment. Investment in R&D, investment in sustainability, but one thing I think is a given with the impressive amount of money in the multiannual financial framework, with the money that we’re going to borrow – the EUR 750 billion – if we double that or triple that it would not be enough. We need to spend in order to crowd in private investment to really make this a real common effort for Europe to be a competitive force, a sustainable competitive force on this planet, and this is of course what we are doing in building the different schemes, crowding in private investment.  Some have asked about the green side of it. Well I hope everyone is looking forward to the Fit for 55 package, building on the agreement in this very House. There is lots of inspiration coming from this House for the Fit for 55 package, with which the industrial strategy should of course fit hand in glove.  Last but not least, I will in particular thank the many Members who mentioned skills, because without skills we will have no industrial strategy. Without digital experts, without the high level of digital skills, we will have no competitiveness. One of the main brakes on small and medium-sized businesses is the lack of qualified people to hire. This is a main effort for competitiveness that the basic skills are on a higher level, be that digital or otherwise, and that the specific skills really are top grade, and that of course is an important endeavour.  Not that the Commission has many powers, not that the Parliament has many powers, but together with Member States we can make amazing things happen for people to be ready, not just to take the jobs that are created, but also to create the jobs: not the jobs of the distant future, but those of tomorrow, because our endeavour is a transition where our industry will lead in green and digital transition. Thank you very much for this very impressive debate.