AI, biotech and affordable clean energy will be the focus of an EU drive to make
the bloc globally competitive and ensure it keeps pace with rivals the United States and China, according to a draft European Commission paper seen by Reuters.
The European Union is under pressure from member countries like France to simplify regulations around doing business, and is also facing fresh challenges with the new
administration of President Donald Trump.
Trump, who is promising to roll back U.S. corporate rules, weighed in on the debate over red tape at the annual Davos meeting of the world’s business elite this week, urging the EU to reduce regulations. He is also threatening to impose new tariffs on EU exports to the United States.
The European Commission paper is a draft of proposals – a Competitiveness Compass – to be presented on Jan. 29. It outlines 29 planned measures and strategies over the next two years to raise productivity through innovation and to decarbonise its manufacturing.
“It is time to turn to action,” the draft paper says. “Without an urgent shift in gear and approach, the EU’s future as an economic powerhouse, an investment destination and a
manufacturing centre is at stake.”
Europe needs to be at the forefront of tech sectors that will matter in tomorrow’s economy, such as AI, advanced materials, biotech, clean energy, robotics and space, the paper says.
The paper echoes elements of a report last September by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, which urged the bloc to coordinate industrial policy and massively invest to keep pace with the United States and China.
The Commission is set to launch its Clean Industrial Deal at the end of February, with acts to cut sustainable reporting requirements of companies by 25% and to reduce energy prices that can be three times higher than those of the United States.
The EU executive will revise EU rules governing chemicals, promote AI factories and seek to tackle barriers to innovative startups building scale, the draft competitiveness paper says.
It will also encourage the EU’s 27 members to coordinate their patchwork of industrial and support policies more, initially in areas such as energy grids, digital infrastructure,
AI and manufacturing of critical medicines.
With Reuters inputs
