Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-01-14-Speech-2-779-000"
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"en.20140114.50.2-779-000"2
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"Madam President, we need a new revolution to help industry. In the 1870s nearly a third of the world’s manufactured goods were made in the UK alone, but now Europe makes less than a fifth of the total, and last year only one European country made it into the top ten most competitive countries for manufacturing.
We cannot go back to the past, but for a better future we need to address the competitiveness crisis. In some areas our manufacturing is working well. Look at the recent success in the UK car industry – success built on a flexible, highly-skilled workforce, coupled with research and innovation. Having a flexible, skilled workforce plus unlocking innovation equals helping companies to create jobs. Too often our innovators have had great ideas which we have then seen exploited and turned into products in other parts of the globe. That is why I support policies which help turn research into reality.
However, we also need competitive cost-bases, especially for our energy-intensive companies. Look at the glass industry. In Europe in the past two years, 12 plants have shut down but 17 plants are opening on our borders, plants that will supply us with products but will not pay our carbon taxes. Tax rates also need to be competitive, and I oppose calls in this report for tax harmonisation. Those calls come from countries which do not want to make structural reforms and want to drag the rest of us down. Taxation decisions rest with Member States, not with Europe, and I will vote against this report if tax harmonisation stays in it.
The single market is meant to be a free market. It is meant to break down barriers for business. It is meant to help companies trade easily across borders. It is not meant to be about bureaucracy and cost. In the UK, a business taskforce recently identified a long list of detailed and specific changes that need to be made to EU laws. If we want our world-class products to be made within our borders, we need to support businesses and make those changes to our laws."@en1
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