CCMI/161

PRELIMINARY DRAFT OPINION

Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI)

Strategic developments in industrial policy by 2030, with a view to strengthening the competitiveness and diversity of the industrial base in Europe and focusing on long-term performance within global value chains
(exploratory opinion requested by the Austrian Presidency)

Rapporteur: Carlos TRIAS PINTÓ

Co-rapporteur: Gerald KREUZER

"Planet and people first, Europe at the same time: Industrial policy should identify and enable opportunities for global sustainable and inclusive future growth. Nobody should be left behind"

1.2. There is a pressing need for a fully-fledged rEUnaissance of European industry, to rekindle the spirit of the Lisbon agenda, making Europe the largest knowledge economy, generating industrial add value through creativity and smart design, social innovation and the fostering of new sustainable and inclusive industrial models (the Made in Europe brand).

1.3. European industry is being part of complex cross-border value chains in an increasingly globalised market, today extremely exposed to strong geopolitical interests. A holistic approach is needed to conciliate growth, climate & environmental challenges and societal problems in a “just transition” design, suitable connecting national and EU drivers towards common sustainable industrial strategies.

1.4. Improvements in education and training for new jobs and services should be closely interlinked with R+D+i policies, prioritising exploration at the extremes of scale (the oceans, space and the nano dimension), bringing in the right spatial or geo-engineering and nanomaterials technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, new materials, enhanced virtual reality, biotechnology, blockchains, computing technologies, neurotechnologies, etc.

1.5. The 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework must make the most specific and detailed provision possible for the additional budget resources to be allocated to each individual sector, R+D+i and cohesion policies in particular.

1.6. The EESC underlines that institutional governance should be enhanced, including in its impact assessment not only the economic impact but also environmental and societal along the whole value chain.

1.7.To make the whole industrial value chain more sustainable, the EESC firmly supports the Commission's road map on financing sustainable growth[1], building a sustainable finance taxonomy that reorient responsible savings to sustainable investments, enhancing the European Strategic Investments (sound combination of the planned InvestEU Fund and private financial sources).

1.8. The EESC is again strongly supporting the golden rule on public investment, not only in co-financing the strategic investment projects but also in all sustainable investment projects in relation to the positive progress of the unified EU classification system for sustainable activities (or taxonomy), to give new development opportunities to those European countries most punished by the crisis.

1.9. Before launching new regulation, EC have to track how align incentives and restrictions or penalties to support better outcomes, in particular regarding new sustainable business models.

1.10. The most productive sectors (with the highest added value) are also those in which innovation is highest. In addition, those sectors which are subject to more stringent environmental regulation are also characterized by higher patenting levels, arguably as a result of regulatory pressure.

1.11. Nevertheless, a major driver of regulatory cost is the implementation of EU policies via Delegated or Implementing Acts. Unfortunately, technocratic compliance procedures without defining the most cost-effective ways to achieve the desired regulatory outcomes are slowing the innovation capacity of industry players, particularly SMEs.

1.12. Sustainable development and competitiveness must go hand in hand. But limiting to zero tariff duties on imports of products that are not respecting environmental and social rules, EU industrial sectors find serious barriers to respond to societal needs and demands with respect to sustainability.

1.13. The EC should strictly monitor the proper implementation of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including simple and clear rules. Sustainability chapters in FTAs must promote implementation of UN Principles on Business and Human Rights establishing minimum cross-cutting conditions that cannot be substituted (rights of vulnerable people, good fiscal governance, etc.)

1.14. An enlarged social dialogue at different levels is necessary to properly analyze and provide joint responses to global value chains, not just individual sectors.