Expert advice on filling comprehension gap

Date: 23/10/1997

By Rory Watson

WHEN he became European Commission president in January 1995, one of the first initiatives Jacques Santer took was to establish an independent group of advisers with proven track records to counsel his colleagues and EU leaders on how to improve European competitiveness.

Now, four reports later, the small Competitiveness Advisory Group (CAG) under its new chairman, former Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary-General Jean-Claude Paye, is preparing its own input into next month's employment summit in Luxembourg.

“The group does not claim originality. It can take up old ideas which may have disappeared from view. The very first report stressed the need for a European Company Statute. This led to the creation of the Davignon group which managed to relaunch the debate,” explains Professor Alexis Jacquemin, the Commission's permanent representative to the CAG.

Although the company statute is still running into major hurdles, other CAG ideas are enjoying more success.

“Aware of the gap between the makers and users of new technology, the group suggested the creation of knowledge centres which could be used as an interface between supply and demand to close the comprehension gap between the two,” says Jacquemin, who is also chief adviser in the Commission's forward studies unit and its Directorate-General for research and development (DGXII).

The Commission's industry department has now taken up the idea and is running a pilot project, supporting initiatives to provide premises where manufacturers and potential users can meet and where practical demonstrations can take place.

As part of its task of stimulating a wider debate on improving the Union's competitiveness, the CAG has focused on helping the EU tap into Asia's growing economic influence. With 80&percent; of Asian students who study abroad choosing the United States, it is looking at ways of attracting a greater percentage to Europe.

“The possibility and benefits of cultural exchanges are very important. Perhaps we should create a sort of Fulbright scholarship for Asian students which would encourage them to come to the EU,” suggests Jacquemin.

One of the group's strengths rests on the fact that its members are selected neither on the basis of nationality nor to represent a particular body. Instead, they are chosen according to their personal achievements and leadership qualities and encouraged to talk freely in their personal capacities.

“The market economy and social cohesion are not necessarily contradictions. I feel this is now more and more accepted. At the same time, there is no single European model, American model and Japanese model. There are ingredients in each and we need to rebalance them. That, I feel, is the message coming out of the various reports,” says the Belgian professor.

Another of the reports' novelties is a readiness to examine the situation in Europe rather than concentrate on the other side of the Atlantic when seeking examples of bench-marking.

“It is important to start from the experience in Europe. We should not just look at the US. It is important to put together different examples of what is happening in Europe to show what is workable and feasible. Always looking towards the US can be counterproductive,” explains Jacquemin.

Although the concept of competitiveness is now firmly on the Union's agenda, Jacquemin readily acknowledges that the term can lead to misunderstandings in the public mind and stir up fears of rationalisation and redundancy.

“It is not the same thing as competition. It means the capacity to be effective and to use our resources as efficiently as possible. This could, for instance, be achieved by increasing cooperation on research and development though international networks. I agree there is a pedagogical role to be filled in illustrating the benefits which competitiveness can bring,” he says.

The CAG has already begun to meet that need. In addition to the short policy paper setting out a number of priorities which the group is now working on, all EU leaders have been sent a copy of a new book* containing the results of the work of its predecessor, chaired by former Italian Premier Carlo Ciampi, as preparatory reading for their employment summit.

* Europe Competing in the Global Economy: Reports of the Competitiveness Advisory Group. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Tel: 44-1242-226934x