Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-08-Speech-2-728-000"
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"Madam President, honourable Members, I believe the fact that so many MEPs are present for an evening sitting shows just how important industrial policy is for all of us, and, since there is consensual agreement, how right it is to put industrial policy and enterprise policy – basically the real economy, which is also the internal market, innovation, competition and social policy – at the heart of our political action to end the crisis and to create development and jobs. I say this because we must not believe – and I think I have been clear both in the course of my speech and in the report on industrial policy that I presented to the Commission – that enterprise and industry are merely economic capital, because they are also human capital, the region, the local community in which they operate.
This signal from London – and it is not the only signal to have come from the United Kingdom – makes me hopeful that this trend will be reversed. We need this to happen in Europe in order to help the real economy.
With regard to raw materials – a topic that has arisen in several debates – I am absolutely convinced that we must continue along the road taken. The European Commission has issued a document and there will be a debate, as a result of which we are now working on part of the raw materials issue. As I said in my first speech, I am totally in favour of conducting research into raw materials recycling. We can also work on finding substitutes for rare raw materials.
Therefore, in an activity also linked to our innovation policy, one of the innovation partnerships envisaged by the European Commission relates precisely to innovation in the raw materials sector. I repeat, recycling and substitution are areas which I believe we should continue to explore in order to provide our industry with specific responses, including international policy initiatives, as I have said on many occasions.
Following the agreement with the African Union and after opening a debate with the Russian Federation on the issue of raw materials, I shall travel to Latin America at the beginning of June to discuss the raw materials issue with Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Europe must give industry and the SME sector a specific response in this respect. Therefore, we must continue to work on implementing the Small Business Act. There is a great deal to do; we have asked all the Member States to appoint an SME ambassador, as the European Commission has done. The signals being received are positive; some countries have already appointed an ambassador, or have indicated their intention to do so, and in a broader context, too, because we must not separate large-scale industry from SMEs. The growth of the real economy is linked to the internal market, industrial policy and SME policy.
Since the role of the unions has been mentioned several times, I will conclude by saying that, for the first time, an Industry Commissioner has met representatives of industry, SMEs and the unions to discuss restructuring policy. A new season of debate has begun, one that will see workers’ and employers’ representatives sitting together round a table in meetings organised by the European Commission, to promote economic growth and the greater good of all EU citizens.
As I also said during my hearing before Parliament prior to my appointment as Industry Commissioner, this is my vision – a broader vision – which stems from a concept that is part of the Treaty of Lisbon, namely, the social market economy.
The ultimate aim of all our actions, both in terms of economic policy and in terms of the real economy, is social policy. Our objective is not to enrich entrepreneurs or investors, although the enrichment of investors is one instrument for responding to the citizens of the European Union.
We now have to apply and defend the choices we have made and are making – which are contained in the Europe 2020 document – with a strong effort to apply the political choices that we have made. I am not concealing from you, nor from myself, the dangers that still exist. Speculators are still active, and I do not rule out the possibility that they may still try to have one last throw of the dice.
It must be very clear that we are on the side of the real economy. Speculation that enriches only those who perform a transaction is very different from the action of a business or industry that creates prosperity for many citizens. However, we must remain vigilant, and work and apply our industrial policy. Consequently, the Commission’s industrial policy document contains a series of competitiveness tests that will be used to monitor the application of a serious industrial policy, which will allow our entrepreneurial system to take up the challenge in the globalised era.
Nor am I avoiding the question asked by Mr van Nistelrooij: I believe that the game must always be played on a level field and according to the same rules. Madam President, when Anderlecht plays Liège, the rules must be the same whether it plays at home or away, and the same principle must also apply to our industrial system. When our industries play in Europe, they must see the same rules applied as when they play outside the European Union.
I believe that this is a good rule for defending not only the market, competition and growth, but also the rights of workers in the European Union. Yet when it comes to defending the European industrial system, I believe that it is right to support the principle contained in the document that we are discussing in favour of origin marking. I consider that Parliament is once more giving a strong signal in harmony with the European Commission.
There are doubtless many other things that need to be done to reduce the bureaucratic burden on companies and industry. As the revised Small Business Act states, we have to reduce the time taken to set up a business and we have to cut red tape, which can be excessive and which crushes the will to do business. We have to help young people to become entrepreneurs, and we need to do a great deal of work in connection with training. I therefore believe in the importance of clusters, where schools, universities, SMEs, large companies, research and innovation work together to enhance the competitiveness of our entrepreneurial system. We already have 2 000 clusters in Europe, and I believe that this pilot scheme must be rolled out.
With regard to access to credit, a great deal has been done, but we can do more. I am very pleased to hear that the Managing Director of the London Stock Exchange – the United Kingdom is one of the countries where much has been done to help services, banks and finance – will take full part in the credit access forum organised by the European Commission to show that the world of finance, or part of the world of finance, wants to participate in the growth and development of SMEs and our industrial system."@en1
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