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PRIORITY

Energy, jobs and competitiveness: A Europe that shapes the future

Europeans not only expect a Europe that protects, but also an ambitious Europe that takes the lead, shaping today’s world. The EPP has led Europe from the beginning: now we want to take Europe into the future. Our social market economy allows Europe to run fast without leaving anyone behind. From coal to cargo ships to data, we have built our success by breaking down the barriers that were blocking us. We know Europe can be the continent of the next digital wave and the global hub for technological innovation. This potential gives us a huge responsibility: we must create quality jobs, strengthen our partnerships with democracies around the world, and protect our independence. We must unleash Europe’s potential to shape our future.

Energy, jobs and competitiveness: A Europe that shapes the future

Protecting

  • Existing jobs and social standards against unfair competition, such as social dumping, and creating a business-friendly environment that facilitates entrepreneurship with a Competitiveness Strategy for Europe.
  • European energy security and affordability with a true Energy Union, with more domestic energy, a strategic import strategy and greater investments in cross-border energy infrastructure such as a European hydrogen backbone and a sufficient European-wide electricity grid, improving the design of the electricity market to ensure stable prices and consumer protection.
  • Our business environment, adopting an Action Plan to reduce regulatory burden by 1/3 in all sectors to allow our companies to flourish.
  • Our climate by supporting and providing finance for businesses, including SMEs, that can transition to more sustainable practices and accompany  them in reducing emissions.
  • European interests across the world with smart trade agreements in line with our European interests, values and standards, such as with Mercosur, Australia and Africa, with a focus on Critical Raw Materials and  closer cooperation with like-minded partners in a Union of Democracies.
  • Our fundamental rights in the digital world by enforcing the Digital Market and Services Acts to make the Internet a safer, more transparent and fairer marketplace, and by updating the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in light of the digital revolution.

Creating

  • New quality jobs for Europeans, making green the new gold: we want to unlock public and private investment in innovation for clean technologies with an Investment plan for European jobs, calling for Member States to reach a combined investment of 4% of GDP in research and development.
  • A Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Envoy with a direct mandate to oversee the application of the SME Test to all EU legislation and create a start-up and SMEs-friendly environment.
  • Opportunities for women to become entrepreneurs and self-employed, including pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). While making up half of the EU population, only about 35% of the EU self-employed, and 30% of start-up owners are women. Creating a business environment with more women entrepreneurs is also crucial to European competitiveness and innovation power.
  • A European Critical Raw Materials Initiative with strategic mapping of global supply chains. The EU needs a plan to increase Europe’s self-sufficiency, especially to produce clean technologies such as electric vehicles.
  • A comprehensive industrial strategy to incite the reshoring of strategic value chains inside the EU,leading to European reindustrialisation.
  • A new “CERN” for Artificial Intelligence as a decentralised institute that would pool European resources and expertise to make Europe the new hub for the ethical and human-centred development of AI and digital innovation.
  • A European Digital Network, rolling out next generation secure digital infrastructure and hardware across every European region, including 5G and 6G, and setting binding targets for Member States to comply with.
  • A European Convention to adapt the EU to today’s challenges and needs. The EU should deliver when its added value really counts, while leaving to Member States matters that are best managed at a national, regional or local level, according to the principle of subsidiarity.

Strengthening

  • Our firms’ competitiveness with an EU competitiveness check of all new EU policy initiatives to assess the cumulative impact of legislation on businesses and their environment and establish a European Advisory Competitiveness Body to put forward proposals that actively improve the EU’s competitive environment.
  • Our Single Market by bringing it to the 21st century, tearing down remaining barriers, advancing digitalisation, completing the single market for services and deepening the energy market. We will also push for more harmonised rules among the Member States, a fully integrated energy market and a harmonised telecommunication market.
  • Completing the Digital Single Market, fostering digital innovation, with a technology-neutral approach and without over-regulation, to be competitive in the digital world.
  • Accelerating the integration of EU capital markets to allow our SMEs, households and citizens to benefit from better access to loans and more investment's options, including the integration of the retail market for consumers. This will be instrumental for achieving our green and digital transition.
  • Our economy with transparent, limited and accessible legal pathways for migration benefiting Europe as well as the countries of origin. We should improve EU migration policy to attract the best talents from across the world, address labour shortages and boost economic growth.
  • Our European and Monetary Union: we stand for responsible budgeting, sustainable fiscal policies, intergenerational fairness and a strong and stable euro. This also means bringing the Stability and Growth Pact to the post-crisis years, to ensure monetary and financial stability.
  • Europeans through Artificial Intelligence: we must work to ensure that AI lives up to ethical standards, while supporting innovation and new technologies and harnessing the power of AI to create quality jobs and a better life for our people.
publications 27.03.2024

Modernisation agenda

Explore the priorities of the EPP Group's Modernisation Agenda for a united and secure Europe with economic strength and social responsibility. We want to ensure that every European, regardless of their background, has a fair chance to earn a living...

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