The
first Competitiveness Council under the mandate of the Italian EU
Presidency will take place in Brussels on 25-26 September 2014.
On 25 September, Sandro Gozi, Italian Secretary of State for European Policy will chair the Council for the industry and internal market points.
The European Commission will be represented by Vice-President
Michel Barnier responsible for Internal Market and Services;
Commissioner Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, responsible for Industry and
Entrepreneurship; and Commissioner Neven Mimica, Commissioner for
Consumer Policy. On 26 September, Stefania Giannini, Italian Minister
for Research, will chair the Council for the research points and the
Commission will be represented by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn,
responsible for Research, Innovation and Science and Vice-President
Neelie Kroes, responsible for the Digital Agenda.
Thursday, 25 September
INDUSTRY
Mainstreaming industrial competitiveness
While Europe is showing signs of
recovery, the economy is still fragile and struggling to get itself
back on track for growth. Decisive action needs to be taken to recover
investment levels notably in the industrial sector. Our industry needs
to address challenges to remain globally competitive and provide a pull
to the rest of the economy.
Commissioner Nelli Feroci will
present the yearly Commission reports on the competitiveness of the EU
and the Members States. These reports show that actions are needed on
many fronts including in finance, skills, internal market, and support
to SMEs. Ministers are expected to discuss how to strengthen the
mainstreaming of industrial competitiveness in overall policies at both
European and national level.
The Competitiveness Council is
expected to send a strong message to the new Commission by adopting a
set of Conclusions on the mainstreaming of industrial competitiveness,
which strongly emphasise the importance of maintaining a vigorous and
competitive real economy and express the political will to restore the
proper place of industrial policy among the other EU policies.
More information:
INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL MARKET
Europe 2020 strategy: mid-term review
The Council will discuss the mid-term review of the EU's economic growth programme. Early
in 2010, the Commission proposed the Europe 2020 strategy which was
launched as the EU’s strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth (IP/10/225).
The aim was to improve the EU's competitiveness while maintaining its
social market economy model and improving significantly its resource
efficiency. When it was launched, the Europe 2020 strategy was a front
runner in advocating a growth model going beyond simply increasing GDP.
On 5 March 2014, the Commission
adopted the Communication 'Taking stock of the Europe 2020 strategy for
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth', followed by a discussion on
the implementation of the strategy at the European Council of 20-21
March 2014 (MEMO/14/149).
Building on this Communication, on 5 May 2014 the Commission launched a
public consultation on the Europe 2020 strategy until 31 October 2014,
inviting all interested parties to contribute their views (IP/14/504).
The Commission will then analyse the responses and put forward
proposals for the pursuit of the strategy which will be discussed at
next year’s Spring European Council.
During the policy debate,
Vice-President Barnier will stress the importance of the review. He will
suggest that focus could shift further from crisis management to mid-
and long-term policies and reforms. He will also point out that there is
a need to build on the existing work and continue to fully exploit the
potential of the EU Single Market in all its dimensions, as initiated by
the Single Market Acts I and II.
Commissioner Nelli Feroci will
stress that the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Semester have been
useful instruments to coordinate the efforts of all Member States on
the same common objectives. He will stress how microeconomic reforms
under the Country Specific Recommendations are contributing to create a
good base for a better business environment in Europe.
More information:
Report from the Commission on “A New Deal for European Defence”...
Vice-President Barnier and
Commissioner Nelli Feroci will present the Commission's Implementation
Roadmap: A New Deal for European Defence, adopted on 24 June 2014 (IP/14/718).
The roadmap is the follow-up to the Commission's Communication on
defence adopted in July 2013 and the conclusions of the European
Council. It sets out how the Commission plans to implement measures to
strengthen the Single Market for defence, to promote a more competitive
defence industry and to foster synergies between civil and military
research.
Vice-President Barnier and
Commissioner Nelli Feroci will stress that defence should remain a
priority on the EU agenda due to increasing instability, especially in
the EU neighbourhood, and constant budget cuts in EU Member States. They
will give details about the priorities and the timetable set up by the
Roadmap in order to deliver concrete outcomes to the European Council in
June 2015.
More information:
INTERNAL MARKET
Implementation of the Patent Package
The Council will hear a
presentation on the implementation of the so-called 'patent package',
which creates, alongside the current system of 'European patents' having
to be validated in each Member State, a new unitary title (European
patent with unitary effect – 'Unitary Patent', or 'UP') producing
effects directly in all the (presently 25) Member States participating
in the enhanced cooperation that made the adoption of the package
possible. The package also creates a new single jurisdiction common to
all signatories of the corresponding international agreement (the
'Unified Patent Court' (UPC) Agreement), that will have exclusive
competence on all European patents (both 'classical' and 'unitary'). The
patent package will considerably simplify both the acquisition and
protection of patents in Europe, leading to a very significant decrease
in the cost of managing and protecting intellectual property portfolios
in the EU.
Vice-President Barnier will call
for the preparatory work to be completed as rapidly as possible, so
that the EU can demonstrate its ability to deliver concrete and decisive
progress in its quest for greater competitiveness and knowledge-based
growth. By considerably reducing the cost of protecting innovation, the
Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court will foster investment,
growth and jobs.
More information:
Geographical indication
The Council will have a
discussion around potential action at EU level in the context of
extending geographic indication protection to non-agricultural products.
The Commission is currently
analysing the merits of extending EU-wide geographical indication
protection to non-agricultural (industrial) products. A Green
Paper “Making the most out of Europe's traditional know-how: towards
the extension of geographical indication protection to non-agricultural
products” was published on 15 July 2014 (IP/14/832).
The ongoing public consultation will run until 28 October 2014. Its
results will be published at the beginning of 2015. The Commission will
use the results to decide on appropriate steps forward in this field.
Vice-President Barnier will note
that geographical indications ensure fair competition for producers and
provide protection against misuse of the indicated name by illegitimate
producers. Geographic indication protection can contribute to
preserving existing jobs, especially in remote areas. Thus, such a
protection would support the economic and social development of European
regions, benefiting society as a whole.
More information:
CONSUMER POLICY
Commissioner Mimica will present the main points of the European Commission report
on the functioning of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation
and share his view on how to ensure successful enforcement of consumer
rights at times when more and more businesses operate across borders.
Enforcement remains in the hands of the Member States, but it is clear
that the European Union needs a framework for tackling more effectively
widespread infringements concerning several or all EU countries at the
same time. In this context, it is necessary to carefully reflect on the
tools that would enable better cooperation amongst national authorities,
and on the role of the Commission.
The European Commission
published the report on the functioning of the Consumer Protection
Cooperation Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004) on 1 July 2014.
The Regulation sets up a network bringing together the national
authorities in charge of European consumer rules enforcement and the
European Commission and enables them to work together on cross-border
infringements. The report follows an external evaluation carried out in
2012 and a public consultation conducted in 2013-2014. It summarises the
tangible results of the good cooperation between national authorities
and the European Commission so far and outlines the challenges ahead.
More information:
Friday, 26 September
RESEARCH
Europe 2020 strategy: Mid-term review - Research and Innovation as sources of renewed growth
The Council will hold a debate
in the context of the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy and of
the Commission Communication on Research and Innovation as renewed sources of growth,
published on 10 June 2014. This Communication highlights the importance
of investing in research and innovation in order to allow Europe to
capture new growth opportunities. It also states that the quality of
such investment must increase to get the most value for every euro
invested. The Communication therefore calls for far-reaching priority
reforms in order to increase the quality of national strategies,
programmes and institutions.
The debate is expected to feed
into Conclusions on this Communication that the Presidency plans to put
forward for adoption to the December Competitiveness Council. It should
also support the ongoing mid-term Review of the Europe 2020 Strategy and
its flagship initiatives including the Innovation Union.
Second progress report on the European Research Area
Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn will present the Council with the key findings of the second progress report
on the European Research Area (ERA), where researchers and scientific
knowledge can circulate freely. The report finds that the partnership
between Member States, research stakeholders and the Commission has made
good progress in delivering ERA, and that the conditions for achieving
it are in place at the European level. Reforms must now be implemented
at the Member State level to make ERA work. At the same time, the report
concludes that the "single market for research" has already proven to
be good for performance of Member States and research institutions.
The report was published
on 16 September 2014 and presents individual country reports that give a
snapshot of implementation on the ground, notably at the level of
research organisations.
Member States are due to put
forward 'ERA Roadmaps' by mid-2015, which will outline their next steps
towards ERA implementation. The Commission, research stakeholder
organisations and Member States will meet in Brussels in March 2015 to
take stock.
Mediterranean Cooperation
During lunch, the Presidency
will lead an informal, follow-up discussion on closer research
cooperation in the Mediterranean area.
'BIG DATA'
Vice President Kroes will present the Big Data Communication
to the Council. In October 2013, the European Council recognised the
socio-economic potential of 'Big Data' and 'data-driven innovation' as
key enablers for productivity and better services in Europe. As a
response, on 2 July 2014, the Commission adopted the Communication "Towards a thriving data-driven economy"
aiming at putting Europe at the forefront of the global data
revolution. As a next step, the Commission seeks to launch a debate with
the Parliament, Council and all key stakeholders on a more detailed EU
action plan to complement and implement the strategy. The Commission
aims to report back to the European Council on the initiatives taken in
the field of big data and the data-driven economy in Spring 2015.