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09.03.2016
Cologne Declaration on Competitiveness: Unleashing the private sector to create jobs and growth
Jobs and growth are created by private initiatives, by innovative entrepreneurs and start-ups. Politicians promising otherwise only prepare the ground for populists. While the EU and national governments can only set framework conditions, this task is huge. Only if we get these conditions right will Europe regain competitiveness and be able to preserve its European Social Model, faced, as it is, with fierce global competition. Only then will Europeans find new jobs, will we achieve our target of a 20 percent GDP share of competitive industry and will we succeed in re-industrialising Europe. We therefore commit to the following structural reforms at European and national level.
While populists claim that cutting public debt means losing sovereignty, the contrary is true: lowering debt levels means regaining sovereignty and increasing our governments’ fiscal means, as still-high levels of public debt result in insufficient buffers to deal with possible new shocks reducing the capacity to invest.
The approach by the new Commission is right: Europe has to be big on big things and small on small things. Consolidating means first and foremost applying the rules in place, ensuring a level playing field, reaping the full benefits of the Single Market - the EU’s growth engine - at zero cost.
EU competition policy is instrumental to the functioning of Europe’s social market economy and the realisation of the full potential of the internal market.
We could gain an additional 4 percent of GDP by further integrating the Single Market, in particular in the digital area. We want to achieve a globally-competitive, innovative and citizen-oriented Digital Single Market. To remain competitive, our industry has to ‘go digital’.
Europe clearly falls short of reaching its targeted 3 percent of GDP for R&D, in particular facing problems achieving the 2 percent foreseen for private spending. Progress in this regard is only possible if we change the legal and financial framework.
Our Group has constantly worked to and will continue to push forward concrete projects proposed by the Commission to facilitate funding conditions for SMEs, including risk capital and other forms of equity funding, as SMEs create 8 out of 10 jobs.
The effective retirement age needs to take into account longer life expectancy and the demographic trend. EPP governments have proven that this helps to stabilise contributions to social insurance, setting an incentive to create jobs while also stabilising public finances.
Efficient labour markets are essential for the creation of new and stable jobs.
Citizens and companies rightly expect efficient public administration, this being a criterion for EU accession. Due to growing interdependence within the internal market, the quality of public administration has become more important as a factor in competitiveness. Yet, too often, administrative obstacles increase costs for businesses, in particular for SMEs and start-ups, and hinder innovation and job creation.
Energy is one of the key elements in determining the competitiveness of the European economy and, in particular, of our industry. The EPP Group’s energy and climate policy fosters Europe's industrial competitiveness, as we strive for a turnaround from the current process of deindustrialisation to a reindustrialisation of Europe.
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