Strengthening European competitiveness, the issue is on the agenda of MEPs this Wednesday, January 18 in Strasbourg. Competitiveness battered by the energy crisis linked to the war and by the protective measures of the major rival powers which raise fears of massive relocations and business closures. And MEPs agree on one thing: the urgency of a response from the European executive.
Coming to debate with MEPs, the European Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton, recalls that in addition to the energy crisis and the inflation which is hitting European companies hard, another challenge has been added: “ The US Inflation Surrender Act is of course the focus of all concern. But make no mistake, China, too, is encouraging energy-intensive companies to relocate, promising them access to cheap electricity and a less stringent regulatory environment than in Europe. »
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, already reaffirmed on Tuesday January 17 in Davos her project of “ european sovereignty fund to support EU industry in the face of Chinese and US state aid. This fund would complement a series of measures envisaged, including a further temporary and targeted relaxation of the rules limiting state aid which, without accompanying measures, would risk fragmenting the single market.
This relaxation, by opening the floodgates of national subsidies, would mainly benefit large rich countries such as Germany and France, which would be able to favor their companies to the detriment of those of other countries, an unfair competition that Brussels claims to want to avoid.
Proposals to support European industry by the end of January
There is an urgent need to act so that Europe no longer depends, for example, on India for paracetamol or China for its photovoltaic panels, believes MP Valérie Hayer of the Renaissance group, who recalls the priorities of her centrist group. : “ Facilitate, make state aid flexible to authorize more state subsidies, but that will not be enough since not all Member States have the same means. So we have to use the European budgetary levers that we have. There is, for example, 220 billion euros of money from the European recovery plan which has not been used as a loan, it must be used. And in my opinion, we will not save a new fund which will be fed by a new loan in common. “In common, because the 27 do not all have the same means to deal with the crisis, reminds our special correspondent in Strasbourg, Juliette Gheerbrant.
And the idea of such a European sovereignty fund, based on pooled funding at EU level, had already been formulated by Ursula von der Leyen but came up against the hostility of several member countries, including the Germany, net contributors to the European budget worried about seeing their bill swell even further.
Ursula von der Leyen must present her proposals for supporting European industry by the end of January, before a European summit of heads of state and government on February 9 and 10.
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(and with AFP)