The European Commission presented its Competitiveness Compass initiative on Wednesday, which foresees a tailor-made action plan for the steel sector, as well as plans to bring down energy prices and introduce European preference in public procurement.
The initiative aims to make the EU market competitive based on recommendations issued by the much-lauded Draghi Report published last September, Kallanish notes.
Over the last two decades, Europe has not kept pace with other major economies due to a persistent gap in productivity growth, the Commission notes. It must act urgently to tackle longstanding barriers and structural weaknesses that hold it back, it adds.
The Commission wants to drive development and industrial adoption of AI in key sectors; promote advanced materials, robotics and space technologies; and remove red tape and risk that is preventing new companies from emerging and scaling up. Companies will benefit from one single set of rules wherever they invest and operate in the Single Market, the Commission says.
The Clean Industrial Deal will aim to make the EU a competitive manufacturing location while simultaneously promoting decarbonisation. An Affordable Energy Action Plan will help bring down energy prices and costs, while an Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act will extend accelerated permitting to sectors in transition.
The Compass refers to a new range of Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships to help secure supply of raw materials from across the globe. Within the internal market, the review of the Public Procurement rules will allow for the introduction of a European preference in public procurement for critical sectors and technologies.
Amid the enablers identified by the Commission, a Horizontal Single Market Strategy will modernise the governance framework, removing intra-EU barriers and preventing the creation of new ones. The Commission will also introduce a Competitiveness Coordination Tool, which will work with Member States to ensure implementation at EU and national level of shared EU policy objectives.
Adam Smith Poland
