Orgalime and CEEMET have responded to the Commission’s recent Communication ‘A stronger European Industry for Growth and Economic Recovery’ with their joint manifesto ‘Manufacturing a Stronger and Greener Europe’, which was last night presented to the European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso at an event attended by industry, MEPs and EU officials. The manifesto contents could actually provide the necessary impetus to restore faith in the European project.

“The European Commission recently sent a clear message stressing that industry is vital to the economic recovery and that the industrial output must grow to reach 20% of GDP. Our manufacturing sectors are critical to the European economy, employing 13 million people. We have listed in our joint policy manifesto a number of core issues for our industry, where we believe improvements will indeed help to ensure a stronger and greener manufacturing economy in Europe”, comment CEEMET and Orgalime Director Generals Uwe Combüchen and Adrian Harris.

Orgalime and CEEMET believe that the manufacturing sectors they represent, by far the largest industry sector in Europe, are at the heart of a transition towards a stronger and greener economy. The manifesto outlines the conditions believed necessary to reach the 20% target and to make Europe once again an attractive region for industrial investment that produces high quality, clean manufacturing processes that in turn, provide the jobs and growth so desperately required.

“We firmly believe that Europe has the skills, innovation and capacity to grow, grow, grow. What is missing however, are the right conditions for investment. There are the funds ready to be invested right now, but Europe needs to provide some stability and predictability in order to encourage those investors to put their money here in the EU - our manifesto offers the ways and means to solve the dilemma” added Combüchen and Harris.

11 key issues to address

1. Coherent and predictable regulation: improving existing rules instead of creating new ones, reducing costs of legislation by making better impact assessments, reducing the burden of new legislation, in particular for SMEs.

2. Efficient functioning of the internal market: more effort needs to be made to achieve harmonised application of legislation in the internal market. To facilitate this regulations are better than directives; enforcement of EU legislation must be strengthened through improved market surveillance.

3. Environment legislation: should be predictable and manageable and not undermine the competiveness of the industry; better balance additional costs against additional benefits and the Eco design Directive should provide a holistic approach.

4. Research and Development: funding must be targeted to industry needs, PPPs must be encouraged, more synergies between Horizon 2020 and structural funds are required and Horizon 2020 should aim to allocate 100 billion Euros from 2014 to 2020.

5. Modernising infrastructures: new “historical investment” in high voltage networks and R&D, electrical installations require a modernisation to deal with smart grids technology, new standards for safety and security standards, better support of telemedicine and e-health.

6. Finance: we want an adequate tax level and less bureaucracy, an efficient banking system, easier access to credit for manufacturing companies and a reasonable implementation of Basel III rules.

7. A balanced energy policy: better managed support for green energy technologies, reliable and affordable energy and reasonable global carbon reduction targets instead of unilateral European targets.

8. Competitive labour markets: restricting additional labour costs, create modern, effective and employment friendly social protection systems and combat overregulated national labour markets.

9. Future proof national social security systems: adapt national security systems to new working patterns, reduce ancillary costs, keep occupational pension schemes simple and affordable.

10. Addressing the skills shortages and competence deficits: promote lifelong learning, promote a culture of practical learning from early age onwards, focus on excellence in vocational and higher education; establish a Value Added Manufacturing Knowledge and Innovation Community at the EIT.

11. Open world markets and raw materials: focus on open global markets, including in developing markets; raw materials trade should not be restricted.

Please find below a link to the manifesto: http://www.ceemet.org/en/Downloads/D5.htm

For more information, please contact:

Uwe Combüchen, CEEMET Director General, tel. +32 2 706 8467. Adrian Harris, Orgalime Director General, tel. +32 2 706 8240.

CEEMET (Council of European Employers of the Metal, Engineering and Technology-Based Industries) is the European employers’ organisation representing the interests of the metal, engineering and technology-based industries. Through its national member organisations it represents 200,000 companies across Europe.

ORGALIME, the European engineering industries association, is a trade association representing through its member federations some 130,000 companies in the mechanical, electrical, electronic, metalworking & metal articles industries of 22 European countries.

The industry represented by CEEMET and ORGALIME has some €2.600 billion of annual turnover - 13.000.000 people employed - Includes some 200.000 companies, mostly SMEs.