The European Commission adopted in recent days a communication on the new guidelines for industrial policy in the enlarged EU. In the document the emphasis is placed on the need to increase expenditure on productivity, innovation and research with the aim of curbing the phenomena of “de-industrialization” (from which some areas of member states are suffering with serious repercussions on employment and social cohesion) and ensuring the competitiveness of European industry both on the European internal market and at the international level. According to the Commission, the Union ought to concentrate its own action on three sectors; “improving the regulatory and legislative environment”; “more effectively mobilizing the various EU policies so that they may interact in developing competitiveness”; and “ensuring the impact of European industrial policy in specific sectors (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, shipbuilding, business services, textiles, cars, product transformation) by involving the parties concerned”.
