Presidency targets competitive EU

EU economics, industry and research ministers will discuss some of the key issues affecting the competitiveness of European business at an informal meeting in the Bavarian city of Würzburg next week (26-28 April).

German economics minister Michael Glos and education and research minister Annette Schavan have invited their colleagues to debate a range of subjects including the future of the single market, the state aid regime, the planned European Institute of Technology and intellectual property rights.

Ministers will be joined by Commissioners Günter Verheugen, Neelie Kroes and Janez Potoc??nik as well as leading figures from the EU’s business community including BP Chairman Peter Sutherland and senior executives from chipmaker AMD and accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

The main aim of the informal meeting is to discuss Europe’s position in the process of globalisation and to address the major challenges for Europe remaining an attractive place for business investment.

The meeting will be a chance to take stock of the state of debate on the planned European Institute of Technology (EIT). The German presidency of the EU has modified an original proposal from the European Commission to respond to member states’ concerns that the institute could compete with existing research initiatives. But there are still doubts over the source of funding for the institute with MEPs reluctant to siphon off funds from the EU’s main research budget. The presidency wants to reach a political agreement on the institute in June but a final deal with the European Parliament is not expected before the autumn.

Ministers will also hear about German plans for a charter on intellectual property rights. This is expected to be a non-binding code of conduct governing how research and educational institutes use the results of their work.

Economics and industry ministers and Commissioners Verheugen and Kroes will discuss the future of the single market and the state aid regime. In March, the Commission launched a review of the single market which focuses on extending the successes in creating an EU domestic market globally through wider adoption of European standards and procedures. The Commission is planning to complete the review in the autumn and present a set of concrete proposals for relaunching the single market next spring.

Ministers will also discuss how the EU’s state aid regime can contribute to improving competitiveness. Later this year, Kroes will present proposals on overhauling the rules for state aid for promoting environmental objectives. This promises to be a hotly contested political issue as Verheugen has suggested that the state aid regime should be changed to offset the impact on the competitiveness of some EU energy-intensive industries of ambitious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to tackle global warming.

EU economics, industry and research ministers will discuss some of the key issues affecting the competitiveness of European business at an informal meeting in the Bavarian city of Würzburg next week (26-28 April).