Greening the economy

The emphasis will be on a green economy, Tajani told Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as he sought to convince them that he is the man to hold the new portfolio at his confirmation hearing in Strasbourg.

Europe must become a world leader in technologies, production processes, products and services that are innovative and respect the environment. “I am convinced that we can arrange a marriage between industrial policy and the fight against climate change,” the Italian commissioner said in his opening comments to the Parliament, where he worked as an MEP for three terms earlier in his career.

“Environmental policy will not be a spanner in the works, or an unnecessary difficulty that we’re lumbering industry with,” he said in the question and answer session. “We need to get the message across that a green economy is going to be good for the future of companies.”

At the centre of this new policy will be innovation and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Without innovation there will be no growth or competitiveness. It is therefore up to the EU to create a framework that encourages everyone to innovate, he said.

With this goal in mind, Tajani pledged to simplify access to finance, encourage technology transfer, make the most of growth markets and encourage the development of new technologies.

“The aim is to provide a stable, predictable framework for competitive industry, the development of entrepreneurship and innovation,” Tajani said.

But as yet it remains unclear exactly how responsibility for innovation will be split between Tajani, as Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship and the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, set to be Ireland’s Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Tajani told MEPs that while Geoghegan-Quinn will be responsible for the overall innovation strategy, he would take responsibility for innovation and industry, and be the one to “insert all industrial ideas” into the Commission’s upcoming Innovation Act.

Both of the commissioners-designate acknowledged the need to work very closely with each other in their hearings, and said preliminary discussions have taken place to agree how to do so.

As Tajani put it in his written replies to MEPs in advance of the hearing, “Innovation is vital for achieving the objectives of Europe 2020. I intend to work very closely with the Commissioner for Research and Innovation to draw up a plan of action for innovation, which will specify what the Commission plans to do, in partnership with Parliament and the Member States, to achieve these objectives.”

It is easy to be emollient now, but as he fights industry’s corner in the Commission, such cooperation will be hard to achieve, believes MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, spokesman on industrial policy for Germany’s Liberal Democrats (FDP) in the parliament, who said, “In central fields of the European industrial policy, such as environment, technology and innovation, as well as in the automobile industry, he [is bound] to face conflicts with his colleagues in the Commission. [If not] the competitiveness of our key industries will be put at risk.”

Inevitably, SMEs form a central component of Tajani’s plans for a new industrial policy. “SMEs are the backbone of the economy,” he told MEPs. “By supporting SMEs we can avoid the financial crisis also becoming a social crisis.”

He said one of his first moves if confirmed as commissioner will be to meet the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to discuss financing and guarantees. Access to funds for SMEs remains his top short-term priority, Tajini pledged. The EIB has made €30 billion of credit available for SMEs in 2008-2011, and he wants to ensure they make use of these funds. For one, this money should enable SMEs to remake themselves as green businesses.

MEP Giles Chichester (ECR, UK) called for less red tape and in response, Tajani promised any proposed legislation would be subject to an SME impact assessment.

Tajani also plans to carry out a study in 2010 to see how much progress has been made in implementing the Small Business Act, adopted in 2008, and to identify new areas of action in an effort “to promote entrepreneurship and enshrine the principle of ‘Think Small First’ in policy development at both European and national levels,” the commissioner-designate said.

Chatzimarkakis accused Tajani of being long on rhetoric but short on detail. The commissioner-designate made it clear that the conditions for small- and medium-sized enterprises must be improved, but “I am curious about his concrete suggestions,” Chatzimarkakis said.

The questions also covered the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances).

To try and combat “carbon leakage” that occurs when polluting industries move their operations to countries where environmental standards are less stringent, the Commission will prepare a list of industrial sectors that could receive a larger share of the emission allocations free of charge. “We must stop industry and jobs fleeing Europe to go and add to pollution elsewhere,” Tajani said.

As for REACH, “2010 will be a critical year, with the first deadlines for the registration of substances,” said Tajani, acknowledging problems with the system, for example language translations. He also said the European Parliament is right to call for nano-materials to be covered by different regulations.

However, Tajani ruled out an early revision of REACH, as an ongoing review is due to conclude in 2012. He said he would be working closely with the environment commissioner on this matter.