Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-04-Speech-2-245"
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"en.20060704.30.2-245"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am extremely grateful to the rapporteur, Mr Calabuig Rull, for his report, which accurately reflects the intentions of the Commission and also gives a fair and appropriate assessment of them.
We are, then, united in our opinion that Europe must and will remain a strong location for industry. Industry still remains a decisive economic factor for Europe, although it is no longer the only one. Manufacturing industries directly employ 34 million people in Europe and produce three-quarters of all the goods exported by the European Union; more than 80% of all expenditure on research and development by the private sector in the EU comes from industry, and of course a large proportion of all services depends upon it being strong and competitive.
Indeed, we in Europe have no reason to feel ashamed. The competitiveness of European industry is outstanding in many areas, and it is not as if we had fallen behind in this sector. There are some areas in which competition has become harder and where we are having difficulties, but in an astonishing number of areas Europe is a world leader and also a leader in terms of technology.
When we tabled our proposal on industrial policy for the 21st century, we agreed that we must not fall back into times of state control, bureaucracy and interventionism, but that we need to enhance the conditions for industrial activity in Europe to such an extent that Europe remains, or becomes, an attractive location for industry. This implies a definite renunciation of protectionism and state intervention, but also a firm offer of help in promoting and developing more competitiveness.
The different horizontal and sectoral initiatives that the rapporteur has already mentioned bring us closer to this objective. I would in particular like to point out that some of the horizontal initiatives that the Commission proposed last year have in the meantime become very important topics, for example, increasing capacity for innovation, defending intellectual property rights or also access to third markets a major topic that is currently being discussed in the Doha round.
I would in particular like to draw your attention to the importance of better lawmaking for modern industrial policy. If any sector of the European economy complains about too much bureaucracy and too many long-winded regulations, then it is this one. As you know, we have taken up this cause with great care. I should also like to reiterate that the purpose of the current review of Community law is not to reduce any standards, for example, less environmental protection or less consumer protection; instead, it is intended to make the rules as effective and as modern as possible, in order to reinforce the competitiveness of our businesses.
I fully share the rapporteur’s opinion on the problem of qualifications, and I am very grateful that he has highlighted this so clearly. For the future of the manufacturing industry in Europe it will be more and more important to have sufficiently qualified workers at our disposal. In some Member States we already have a qualification problem, and part of the unemployment in Europe is due to the fact that certain qualifications are not available where they are actually needed. On this issue, too, further coordinated activities will most certainly be necessary on the part of the European Union and the Member States as well."@en1
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