Europe must focus more on social inclusion and the strengthening of skills and its industrial policy

During the third thematic session of the 71st plenary session of COSAC, held at the European Parliament in Brussels, MPs from all over Europe discussed the competitiveness and resilience of the European Union. The session on strategic autonomy and competitiveness focused on strengthening skills and European industrial policy.

The debate was introduced by Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Marek Hudon, Professor at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

COSAC (Conférence des Organes Spécialisés dans les Affaires Communautaires) brings together the European affairs committees of the national parliaments and a delegation from the European Parliament. In Belgium, it is the Federal Advisory Committee on European Affairs. The COSAC plenary session (24-26 March) is the last in a series of conferences organised by the Belgian parliaments as part of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (1 January-30 June 2024).

Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, painted a picture of a Europe facing change on several fronts. Firstly, a digital transformation is underway, of which artificial intelligence (AI) is the most important factor. In his presentation, the Commissioner stressed the importance of skills and lifelong learning in anticipating these transitions.

However, the transition must be "equitable", and this can only be achieved by taking social aspects into account. The key to transition, according to the Commissioner, lies in skills: "Ensuring that 60% of adults are in training by 2030 is ambitious but necessary. But there is no other solution: lifelong learning is essential". By way of example, Nicolas Schmit mentioned the COVID19 pandemic, which showed us that investing in skills is the best way to protect jobs.

Europe wants to make this task easier for the various strategic partners (governments, businesses, social partners, workers), in particular by setting up actions with the social partners to eliminate the main labour market shortages, create inclusive working environments and improve intra-European skills and labour mobility in an equitable manner.

Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, focused on the European industrial policy which must be underpinned by regulatory and financial conditions conducive to competitiveness. Three areas need to be addressed in this respect: production capacity, economic security and the defence industry.

As far as production capacity is concerned, it is no longer acceptable that more than three quarters of Europe's public cloud is still held by the Americans and that we are 80% dependent on the Indo-Pacific region for our semiconductor supplies. One step forward in this respect is the Chips Act, which has mobilised over €100 billion in public and private investment.

The second major project is economic security, combined with diversification and cooperation with foreign partners. In terms of cybersecurity, legislation on services and single markets has been adopted.

The third major area is our defence industry. The aim of the European Defence Industrial Programme is to boost our capabilities, responsiveness and competitiveness.

Marek Hudon, lecturer at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, stresses that open strategic autonomy will require diversity and diversification. By relocating many value chains, in particular by rapidly adopting alternative energy sources to reduce dependence on Russian gas. However, we must not fall into protectionism.

A second important element is resilience. According to Marek Hudon, "while resilience should be an objective at European level, it is often best managed at regional level. European institutions must be encouraged to carry out resilience analyses at regional level. The drivers of urban resilience are obviously very different from those in rural areas.

Scientific studies on resilience show the importance of the local economic structure, but also of public spending on social protection and political stability. "I am convinced that the competitiveness of our economy in the medium and long term depends on its resilience. The organisations that have been the most resilient in recent economic and ecological crises are those that have been able to rely on an interconnected economic structure but also a strong social dynamic.

All the information and additional documents concerning the conference are available on the website of the parliamentary dimension of the EU Presidency.

The meeting can be reviewed on the Parliamentary Dimension's YouTube channel.

High-resolution photos are available on the Parliamentary Dimension's Flickr channel.