UNIFE’S successful mobilisation for a strong European industrial strategy

On 13 September, the European Commission published an important Communication entitled “Investing in a smart, innovative and sustainable Industry: A renewed EU Industrial Policy Strategy”.

This Commission’s Communication, also mentioned by President Juncker in his speech on the State of the Union on that same day, contains interesting elements which reflect the position of the European rail supply industry, notably:
-    recognising the need for a holistic EU industrial policy;
-    defining public procurement as a driver for smart, sustainable and innovative technologies;
-    recognising the need to accelerate and improve the uptake of technologies;
-    callingfor a global level-playing field as a precondition for a strong EU industry (with a strong reference to the need for the swift adoption of the revised proposal for an International Pro-curement Instrument (sometimes called “reciprocity instrument”).

This Communication is a concrete result of an unprecedented campaign initiated at European level by UNIFE called #Industry4Europe. UNIFE brought together 130 European industrial associations unanimously calling on the European Commission to adopt an ambitious EU industrial strategy accompanied by a long-term action plan. The associations, who earlier this year adopted our Joint Declaration for an ambitious EU industrial strategy, continue to work together, under UNIFE’s leadership to enrich the Commission’s Communication with more long-term strategic perspectives, ideas and proposals.