Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-22-Speech-3-254"
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"en.20031022.10.3-254"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, industrial policy is very much on the agenda today: we have had the Commission communication, Mr Prodi’s conference, the joint letter from Mr Chirac, Mr Schröder and Mr Blair, and the deliberations of the last European Council. I can only say, it was about time. Our compatriots are worried. They have the feeling that our industrial fabric is unravelling day after day. They note bitterly that too many businesses are closing or moving elsewhere, often to the Far East, to neighbouring Member States or to the future Member States sometimes. What is Europe doing, they ask us, what are you doing?
I believe this concern is justified and the question is a legitimate one: do we not speak of a social market economy, of social cohesion? They therefore judge the situation in the light of our laudable objectives. That is why Mrs Zrihen should be congratulated for writing her own-initiative report: it is a difficult subject. The rapporteur has included most of the opinions of the committees consulted, in particular our own, that of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. I cannot criticise her for doing that, but it has sometimes resulted in something like a Prévert-style inventory and the poor Commission is sometimes asked to work miracles. Especially as there are many obstacles to an effective industrial policy and some of those obstacles are outside its competence.
The first obstacle seems to me to be that the Union puts too much faith in market mechanisms. Moderate protectionism, a greater acceptance of public intervention and a distinction between competition and predation ought to be enough to correct the mysterious hand’s perverse effects.
A second obstacle is fiscal and social differences. Sadly, social and fiscal dumping hang over the Union. But essentially that is a question where the Member States retain full sovereignty; competition will not be fair until there is harmonisation.
A third obstacle is the low level of expenditure on research and investment: we spend 1.07% of GDP while the Japanese, it appears, spend 3%.
Finally, I am not convinced that enlargement is the answer to all our ills. Perhaps we talk about it too optimistically. In the face of all these obstacles and difficulties, I can only wish the Commission and ourselves good luck and good courage."@en1
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