EU industrial and SME strategies: getting real economy back on track

Today, the European Commission published the EU industrial strategy and the SME strategy, both essential for Europe’s real economy businesses.

BusinessEurope President Pierre Gattaz said: "In today’s world, where Europe is accelerating its green and digital transformations and where other parts of the world use aggressive policies, with some playing outside of the rules, Europe needs to act more strategic. The industrial ecosystems around strategic value chains like batteries, hydrogen or the Internet of Things will be key to pool public-private finance and bring new technologies to the market.

EU policy-makers should act on all fronts against unfair competition. Developing a tool to mitigate market distortions caused by heavily subsidised companies in third countries is most welcome. Where needed, EU competition rules should also be adjusted to today’s market realities, for instance by taking better account of the international dimension of markets.

Reaching high climate ambitions while preserving the competitiveness of our industries will be the key for success. If important conditions are met, a carbon border adjustment mechanism might work for a few sectors, but it’s not the silver bullet. The strengthening of our existing tools to tackle carbon and investment leakage is therefore essential.

Future initiatives should also take into account SME diversity in terms of size, age or sector. And policy-makers should be aware that the green and digital transformations will be a challenge for SMEs. We regret the absence of a European company law form for SMEs which would support the expansion of their cross-border activity."