EU Commission strategy on industry still work in progress

“We want the European Commission to complete the work more quickly and come up with a clear plan for all relevant industry ecosystems”, said Christian Ehler MEP, the EPP Group's Spokesman in the European Parliament's Industry Committee.

Today, the European Parliament will discuss the new updated Industrial Strategy, published by the European Commission on 5 May. The EPP Group wants European industry to become sustainable in Europe, adopt digitisation in Europe and thrive in Europe.

“We welcome the European Commission’s updated strategy, but it is still a work in progress. Any plan for Europe's green and digital transition will only work if European industry is an integral part of the plan."

The EPP Group continues to insist that the green, digital and industrial objectives are treated on an equal footing, as they are all dependent on each other.

“All these objectives must be brought together in concrete measures specific for each industrial ecosystem. This is what we would like to see in further work on the Industrial Strategy. Each ecosystem needs a strategy addressing its specific needs for competitiveness, sustainability and digitisation”, declared Ehler.

EU industry employs around 35 million people and accounts for around 16 percent of EU economies.

“Public spending and incentives should be aligned to the priorities we set out in the Industry Strategy. While all the ingredients for such an approach are present in the Commission proposals, we are still missing an overarching strategy that will get us to our 2030 objectives and beyond”, concluded Ehler.