Competitiveness: EU on the right track?
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has presented a plan called the "Competitiveness Compass" which aims to boost the European economy's global competitiveness. The strategy is based on the report presented in September by former ECB chief Mario Draghi. "Europe has everything it needs to succeed in the race to the top," von der Leyen said. Not all commentators share her optimism.
The bus has left without us
Bogusław Chrabota, editor of Rzeczpospolita, is disappointed:
“So there is no chance that Europe will join the chase with the rest of the world. Its process of musealisation is too far advanced. What remains then? An open-air museum offering tourism, low-level academic education (here we will still have an advantage over part of the world for a while) and organic agricultural products. Poland can offer vodka, sausages and raspberries - provided, of course, there are enough hands to do the harvesting. The bus has left without us, ladies and gentlemen, and the illusion that we can still get on it is simply naïve.”
Europe's farsightedness will prevail
Under no circumstances should the EU abandon its Green Deal, Les Echos warns:
“Of course it's not perfect, and it's far from complete. But it has been launched and the players in the financial world clearly support its goals, even if they are sometimes critical of its terms and conditions. Better still: they have understood that despite the limitations that the green economy imposes on them, this is a real driver for growth in their businesses. ... The US is currently acting as if it were calling the shots. But in actual fact it is relying on shortsightedness, and reality will catch up with it one day.”
Dare to deregulate
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is not convinced:
“The working paper is full of vague terms. The substance behind it is unclear. Questions such as how serious the Commission is about cutting red tape, for example, will only become clear when it presents the announced omnibus regulation, which is intended to reduce the number of reporting obligations with which industry has to prove that it is complying with a never-ending stream of EU regulations. However, this omnibus regulation will only give companies a little bit of breathing space, without solving the actual problems. That would require a genuine commitment to targeted deregulation, whether it's on the Green Deal or in other areas.”
Clear rules make sense
It's important not to throw out the baby with the bathwater in the fight against bureaucracy, warns De Standaard:
“Less control mania is not the same as more deregulation. Without standards there can be no healthy environment, no stable legal certainty, no decent working conditions or fair rules for companies. Von der Leyen expressly emphasises that CO2 neutrality remains the goal for 2050. European companies are sticking to that goal for the time being. ... The consultations [with the automotive industry] will be the first litmus test for the Commission and the companies - how steadfast they remain in their goals and how pragmatic they are in achieving them.”
Too many questions still open
Von der Leyen's plans are far too vague, Welt newspaper contends:
“Under Ursula von der Leyen the EU Commission has initiated around 6,300 legislative acts over the past five years. ... The Competitiveness Compass, for example, promises a 25 percent reduction in reporting obligations. But what exactly does that mean? If companies ask the EU Commission how many reporting requirements there are in the first place, they won't receive an answer. What's more, the very people who are now called on to reduce red tape are the same ones who created it. The man von der Leyen has put in charge of this task, Valdis Dombrovskis from Latvia, has been a member of the Commission for more than a decade. ... One must assume that he won't exactly relish undoing his own work.”
More dynamism and independence needed
In Capital, economist Nikitas Simos sets out clear recommendations for Europe against the backdrop of Donald Trump's presidency:
“Despite the risk of a trade war with the US, the EU should change its growth model to ensure that it relies more on components that are in demand domestically and less on net exports. In this regard, the Draghi and Letta reports contain very useful proposals for making the European economy more resilient and therefore less vulnerable to external threats. It remains to be seen whether the EU has the political capital and the will to pursue a dynamic and independent strategy.”