SPEECH/08/93
José Manuel Durão Barroso
President of the European Commission "We are very well placed to succeed"
European Business Summit Brussels, 21 February 2008
President,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to say that I am very happy to attend this year's European Business Summit, as I have done every year since the beginning of my mandate. I think that today's event shows once again the renewed commitment of BusinessEurope to an open and dynamic Europe, for which I thank you. The real success story of fifty years of European integration are, to my mind, the extraordinary advances made due to the drivers of the "European method" – closer union, openness and dynamism. Europe's businesses have made an important contribution to this success.
This success story, in my view, is set to continue in the 21st century, although the global context we live in is more difficult and somehow uncertain. New risks, new competitors, new circumstances. Our success on the globalisation front is at stake.
By putting in place, one by one, the components of a policy of solid growth and concrete results for Europe's citizens and businesses, we have triggered a virtuous cycle that is producing positive results.
Our economic fundamentals are sound and generate confidence. We are therefore better prepared to weather the storm of the financial turmoil that the world economy is now facing. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 25 years. For the first time in a decade, strong increases in employment have gone hand in hand with productivity growth. Public deficits have fallen sharply. We are obviously on the right track.
Therefore, as I said this morning to Gordon Brown, who made a very successful visit to Brussels, we must consolidate our achievements, notably the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, which remains our priority. We need to be more dynamic in certain respects and raise the level of qualifications and skills needed by the Union's economy; to step up innovation and research; to strengthen our internal market; to modernise our social systems; to incorporate the demographic dimension into our policies; to stimulate SMEs; and to cut red tape.
Europe must also have the confidence to address tomorrow's daunting challenges –energy and climate change, global trade in a competitive world, and immigration.
Dear Ernest-Antoine,
I very much appreciated your words. Let me respond to a number of points you mentioned in your speech. I would like to start with our energy and climate change package.
Our European commitment to a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, to a 20% share of renewables in our energy consumption and to a 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020 will shape a new culture. Of course, encouraging a new culture takes time, effort, investment and cooperation. It will give Europe's citizens and businesses access to new growth opportunities, new products, new technologies and millions of new jobs.
Our energy and climate change package will have a major economic impact. It will involve structural change as the EU transforms itself into a low-carbon economy.
The challenge we face is to integrate sustainability, security of supply and growth. What is at stake is how to achieve a low carbon economy, not a low growth economy. Part of the answer lies in innovation and technology in Europe.
Competitiveness depends on innovation. The need to improve environmental performance often triggers innovation, which in turn leads to “first-mover advantages”. If the European Union leads the field in low-carbon-intensive technologies, new export opportunities will open up for it. A good example is wind energy, where the EU is the world leader. So the earlier we move, the more opportunity we will have to use our skills and technology to boost innovation and growth.
As far as emissions reduction is concerned, we are proposing a single EU-wide cap for emissions covered by the ETS so as to guarantee a level playing field for industrial installations throughout the single European market.
On the specific issue of highly energy-intensive industries, which are worried about their competitiveness, I would stress once more that we are aware that they will need the time and means to adapt, not least when they are exposed to competition from countries with weaker carbon disciplines. Ultimately, the best solution is an international agreement. But in the absence of an international agreement, we should be ready to look at interim solutions for energy intensive industries. For example, receiving their ETS allowances free of charge, or requiring importers to obtain allowances alongside European competitors. Of course, any such solution must be fully in line with our WTO commitments.
As for the overall Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, implementation of the energy and climate change package will require more research. This will be boosted in the EU by new initiatives of the Commission, such as the European Institute for Innovation and Technology, the "fifth freedom" - namely the free movement of knowledge - and the European research area.
It will also require more skills. In the next cycle of the Lisbon Strategy we aim to encourage Member States to invest much more extensively in human capital. This is essential for the dynamic knowledge economy we want to build.
You mentioned the concept of flexicurity, where significant progress has been achieved between the social partners and in the Council over the last few months. Common principles have been approved. Here again, I think we are on the right track.
Needless to say, social dialogue plays and will continue to play an essential role in the whole dynamic I have just mentioned. It will be at the core of it. As far as our social agenda is concerned, I think it can take a lead from the far-reaching analysis of the social reality in Europe of which the Commission is currently taking stock, as agreed by the European Council.
You also mentioned the Working Time Directive and the Temporary Agency Work Directive. I take the view that, in these areas, we can find pragmatic compromises to respond to the concerns of everyone – workers, businesses and social partners alike. The Commission too is a stakeholder in this dynamic process.
As far as our "better regulation" policy is concerned, the Commission launched a programme last year which will cut red-tape for businesses by 25% in the next five years. This will lead to savings of some 1.5 billion euros. Our programme for legislative simplification is progressing well. The first set of fast-track measures launched in early 2007 meant 500 million euros in savings for companies last year and a further 800 million euros in savings in the short term. A further 45 new measures will be presented in 2008. Our policy is delivering concrete and tangible results.
I hope that by the middle of this year we will present the Small Business Act, which is designed to boost European SMEs and encourage them to become more active on a cross-border basis. You know this important new step is very close to my heart.
Finally, you mentioned the question of collective redress in consumer policy. Our European market will fully work only if consumers are sufficiently informed to be confident when they go shopping, and if businesses can operate on a level playing field throughout the European Union. Let me repeat this again: the internal market belongs to all of Europe's citizens and businesses. What the Commission has launched is a reflection process with all stakeholders. We want to see whether the mechanisms available to consumers to seek effective redress need to be improved. This reflection process is meant to examine best practice and options that can help resolve consumer issues in a manner which is efficient, low-cost and accessible. This is in the interests of individual citizens, businesses and the European economy as a whole. Let us be clear: our intention is not to introduce a "class action" solution.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before we turn to our debate, I would like to stress that Europe is on the move and that it has extraordinary strengths to call on.
Let us draw on all these strengths of ours with confidence and to the best effect. The European Union has embarked on a comprehensive reform as regards globalisation and I am proud of the role the European Commission has played in this respect. We are very well placed to succeed. Let us go forward together!
Thank you.
