Brussels – May 5, 2017
On 12 April the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, met to discuss the importance of her portfolio in promoting jobs and growth: they share the view on the need for a comprehensive industrial policy for Europe.
“I strongly support the work of Commissioner Bieńkowska in designing a new industrial strategy for Europe, attracting more investment while strengthening our industrial base. The great potential of the digital single market in boosting innovation and competitiveness is key for a modern industrial policy, together with the full completion of the single market for goods, services, capital and energy”.
European Parliament President concluded that, “Citizens want Europe to work more for growth and jobs. For this, we should increase investment to support the real economy; it is a priority that should be clearly reflected in the next EU financial framework”.
The Maltese Presidency recently published the draft Council conclusions on a new strategy for the Union’s industry, which emphasises the importance of strengthening and modernising a strong industrial base in Europe and of ensuring the Union’s industrial competitiveness by putting innovation and digitalisation at the centre of all initiatives, covering both modern industries with high-growth potential and more traditional branches of industry that often face the challenges of rapid economic changes in today’s globalised world and the risk of delocalisation. Moreover, in the draft the Council calls on the Commission to provide the Council with an evaluation of the impact of mainstreaming industrial policy into the EU strategic initiatives as called for by the European Council, by the end of October 2017, and looks forward to examining this evaluation.
More information will be provided in the months to come.
