Europe needs a hefty change of mentality, not only among politicians but also among citizens. That was the message from the European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen and Stéphane Séjourné (industry) during the presentation of the Competitiveness Compass, a plan that must be given ample business in the competition with the US and China in the coming years.
“The world is not waiting for Europe,” said Von der Leyen. “We have a plan, a route map and the political will. What counts now is speed and unity. ” The committee in particular wants to simplify the rules, with a better capital market investments in innovative companies more attractive, promote sustainability and the CO2-Reduce emissions. According to Von der Leyen, the European business model was until recently based on cheap work from China, cheap energy from Russia and partially outsourcing safety, she said during a press conference. “Those days are over.” This plan is a first elaboration of the alarming report by the Italian former Prime Minister Draghi, in which he outlined the risks of the low competitiveness of Europe. “The weaknesses of the European economy are eliminated,” said Von der Leyen.
The road that the committee takes with this plan is widely embraced in the European Parliament, certainly by the parties that support Von der Leyen II. “This is a crucial moment,” said Vice -President Dolors Montserrat of the largest group, the European People’s Party (EVP), of which the CDA, BBB and NSC are part. “Now the committee must keep course.”
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There are also positive reactions to the new plan from the business community. Entrepreneurial organizations VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland respond in a joint statement. “The new plan offers a powerful answer to today’s geopolitical context (…). The compass points the right course, but the urgency remains high. ” That is why, the organizations say, plans must be quickly converted into concrete actions.
IndustrieClub FME is also enthusiastic about the plan to lower the regulatory pressure, “but we must not forget that if we as Europe we want to become really more competitive, that will not work without actual public and private investments in the field of innovation, productivity and defense” , says chairman Theo Henrar.
In order to burden companies less with all kinds of regulatory pressure, Von der Leyen has been thinking for a long time to merge green sustainability laws for European companies in one simpler ‘Omnibuswet’. She wants to do that from February. She is talking about the so -called CSRD, the reporting obligation on the impact of the production chain on, for example, climate and human rights. And about a law that requires companies to make sustainability plans in response to that report, the CSDDD. Those laws have been adopted in recent years, but have not yet entered. Many companies, especially smaller ones, are concerned about the extra costs and the administrative work. That is why VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland are happy that the committee wants to make these laws workable in practice.
Insecurity
But that European back and displayer around the new sustainability laws also led to unrest in recent months. Climate lawyer Tim Bleeker from the VU University Amsterdam said earlier NRC: “It is still unclear whether this causes a different course, but uncertainty about this is already harmful. It could be that companies, legislators and enforcers who are working on the implementation of the sustainability rules still waiting for the development. While these are very important years in the fight against climate change. ”
Earlier this month, a group of European companies, including Nestlé, Signify and Unilever, spoke out about the Omnibus package In a fire letter to the committee. They fear that the merger is used to re -negotiate the content of the laws, while according to the letter companies have already invested considerably to meet the new requirements.
“In recent years, accountants have argued for standard manners for reporting and we are almost there now,” says Kris Douma, chairman of the NBA accounting organization. “And moreover, the Netherlands and Europe have committed themselves to sustainability objectives of the United Nations. The only way in which companies can adhere to is if they also report on their performance. ” The NBA therefore calls on accountants to continue reporting according to the CSRD.
Climate goals
“The objectives of the Green Deal were chiseled in stone,” said Von der Leyen on Wednesday. In recent months, the parties have been fearing that the committee wanted to weaken the climate goals, but that emphatically contradicted them. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66) is satisfied that the goals to combat climate change will remain intact. But he fears that “the simplistic rhetoric about regulatory pressure” gets the upper hand. “Certainly if the argumentation is: we have to overtake America.” Gerbrandy believes that it is too easy to claim that Europe is “a hopeless lagger”. “That is pertinently untrue. We are still one of the strongest economies with a number of major benefits compared to other blocks in the world. Including the quality of life that we monitor with strong regulations. “
MEP Eickhout from GroenLinks-PvdA endorses the main lines of the report, but also fears that it is only done what is easy, namely scraping rules, while somewhat more difficult-investing in a sustainable economy-is not going to be enough. SGP’er Bert-Jan Ruissen believes that the committee is holding too much to the Green Deal. That is a missed opportunity, says the MEP. “Our Co2emission must be reduced by 90 percent in 2040. This is how we praise our business community from the market. ” According to him, the committee runs too much “on the leash of the left”.
VVD member Bart Groothuis sees great opportunities for the Netherlands in the plan: “There is no country in Europe that can benefit more from this compass than the Netherlands: with the announcement of targeted support for biotechnology, quantum and space travel, Dutch industry and knowledge centers can extra resources and look towards support from Brussels. ” But he still sees too little innovation. According to him, pruning in rules also means stopping spending on the old economy, which according to him still wants to protect the EVP too much. “What I want is to grow the economy of the future.”
With the cooperation of Anouk Boone