Debate: A New Industrial Strategy for Europe
Date: MONDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2020
Speaker: Mairead McGuinness
Language: EN

Europe has always been the home of industry and, throughout history, industry has proven its ability to lead change. To prepare for the future, Europe needs industry that is greener, more digital and more resilient, while remaining competitive on the global stage. EU institutions, Member States and regions have to work alongside industry to make this happen. We must do more than just adapt. We want to accelerate and enable change and innovation. This is why we must move forward on our agenda, as announced in the new industrial strategy. Important initiatives have been delivered, such as the Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials, and many are still to come. A deeper and more digital single market; a global level playing field and open markets; working towards climate neutrality and a more circular economy; fostering employment and innovation, skills and investments: all these will be essential to achieve our goals. The COVID—19 crisis has increased the momentum to use the recovery as an opportunity to accelerate our joint efforts. We will update the industrial strategy next year to take account of the lessons learned from the pandemic and to ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose to lead the green and digital transformations. To achieve this, we will have to work together. In updating our industrial strategy, we plan to work closer than ever with the Member States, as well as with industry and other stakeholders: for example, in the context of industrial ecosystems, alliances and the Industry Forum. Europe has an excellent industrial foundation. We have the benefit of diverse and competitive companies of all sizes, including SMEs and social economy enterprises, and a huge range of different industries, not only a few giants. That’s why the focus of the new industrial strategy is on industrial ecosystems, incorporating all players operating in a value chain: not just a few big companies, but value chains in which companies of all sizes can participate. Such an approach has already shown its benefits in the field of batteries. In July, the Commission launched the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance and the new European Raw Materials Alliance in September. A European alliance on industrial data and cloud is also on the way. Soon we will launch a new industrial forum, which will bring together companies of all sizes with researchers and unions and national governments. Our new industrial strategy is part of a package of initiatives to make Europe’s businesses future ready. There will also be a dedicated strategy for SMEs and concrete steps to address barriers in the way of a well-functioning single market. This single market is Europe’s strongest asset to allow all of our businesses to grow and compete in Europe and beyond. The openness of Europe’s economy is a source of prosperity and competitiveness. We need a European industrial policy based on competition, open markets, world—leading research and technologies, and a strong single market, which removes barriers and cuts red tape. But we must resist the simplistic temptations that come with protectionism or market distortions, while not being naive in the face of unfair competition, to ensure a level playing field beyond the single market. Reciprocity in public procurement is a key part of the industrial policy toolbox. We’re also working on legislative proposals to tackle the distortive effects of foreign subsidies on the single market. The COVID—19 crisis has highlighted that dependency on a single supplier for some specific critical goods could limit Europe’s ability to respond to future shocks. Europe needs to build up resilience and strengthen the open strategic autonomy of the EU economy in the long run, while remaining open to the world. This requires an evidence-based approach, where we first identify any vulnerabilities and then explore how to address them, notably by contributing to the diversification of our supply chains. The Commission supports the agreement found in the trilogue between the Council and Parliament on Europe’s next long—term budget and Next Generation EU, Europe’s new recovery instrument. Now it is important to move forward. The strength of our Union has always been that we overcome difficult situations by engaging with each other. So we are working hard to implement the final step on the MFF, while ensuring respect for the rule of law. This new powerful and modern long-term budget for the Union will allow us to turn the immediate challenges posed by the COVID—19 pandemic into long-term opportunities by not only supporting the recovery, but also by investing in our future. To make that future sustainable, inclusive and fair for all, we need to spend the money from the recovery instrument in a way that crowds in private investment and does not undermine the ability of our industries to compete by harming competition or weakening the single market. Honourable Members, the time to get it right is now. We do not get a second chance.