Europe must step up its efforts to close the productivity gap with its global partners and lead a re-industrialisation that puts people and the planet at the centre. This was the main message from the PES COMPET ministers, who exchanged positions ahead of today’s Competitiveness Council meeting.
Chaired by the Slovenian State Secretary for Internationalization, Entrepreneurship, Development Resources and Tourism Matevž Frangež, the meeting welcomed the election of Teresa Ribera as Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition and Roxana Mînzatu as Executive Vice -President for Quality jobs and social rights, education, skills and preparedness at the European Commission.
The chair Matevž Frangež said:
“We congratulate Teresa Ribera on her new position as an Executive Vice-President of the European Commission with competitiveness in her portfolio. She will champion the progressive approach in reindustrialisation, putting people and the planet at the centre.
We must do our best as a Union to close the productivity gap with our international partners with our « Made in Europe » Strategy, by leveraging the green transition, boosting innovation and ensuring digital sovereignty. This is how we will achieve an open strategic autonomy. Strengthening our value chains and securing our access to critical raw materials is key for fostering sustainable growth and long-term resilience.’’
Ministers agreed that we must focus on strategic projects with a European added value, strengthen the single market in line with the Letta report, support our SMEs and scale up our strategic industries. They stressed the need for an ambitious EU budget and the role of both private and public financing to meet our ambitions.
Moreover, Ministers underlined that as Europe’s largest progressive force, we must keep our ambition on the climate agenda and on the implementation of the Green Deal, taking into account people, regions and industries. A clean, circular economy not only drives sustainable growth but also creates high-quality jobs. Ministers stressed the importance of ensuring this approach extends to particularly challenging sectors in transition, such as the automotive industry. Similarly, they emphasized the need for companies to remain committed to their social and environmental responsibilities, ensuring them support and with a predictable regulatory framework to guarantee investment security. They also underlined the necessity to invest in clean, renewable and affordable energy to meet the challenges of competitive economy and climate neutrality by 2050.
The meeting also discussed expectations and red lines of the PES in preparation of the new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness, and the need for a holistic approach, which is expected to be put forward in the first months of the new mandate.
Finally, ministers exchanged views on the Better Regulation agenda and how to ensure that social and environmental objectives won’t be undermined by future European legislation.
The meeting was attended by:
- Matevž Frangež, Meeting Chair, State Secretary / Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport. Slovenia
- Fernando Sampedro, State Secretary for the EU. Spain
- Silvio Schembri, Minister for the Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects. Malta
- Yonnec Polet, PES Deputy Secretary General
