EU Commission aims to simplify its way to future growth

euronews (in English)

The European Commission has presented its new economic strategy for the coming years. Simplification features prominently in a package of proposals that is sorely lacking in novelty.

Transcript

00:00A compass to boost the European Union's competitiveness.

00:11On Wednesday, the European Commission presented its plan to combat the 27 member states' industrial

00:17and technological lag behind the United States and China.

00:21The aim is to boost innovation in strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, green

00:27and quantum technologies, biotechnology and robotics.

00:31For the President of the Commission, the situation is simple.

00:36And if you take it in a nutshell, over the last 20 to 25 years, our business model has

00:42basically relied on cheap labor from China, presumably cheap energy from Russia, and partially

00:52outsourcing security and security investment.

00:57These days are gone.

00:59The Commission is therefore proposing a major administrative simplification to enable businesses

01:05and member states to move faster.

01:07The Commission seems to be responding to calls from the business world and several governments.

01:12However, there is a risk that this reduction in regulation will lead to environmental concessions,

01:19an accusation rejected by Ursula von der Leyen.

01:22For some analysts, this strategy marks a political break for the President of the Commission.

01:29I see it actually as a U-turn.

01:30I mean, in 2019, she started the mandate with the European Green Deal.

01:36Now we focus on competitiveness and the content of the document has a lot of emphasis on how

01:44to support companies and the European productive system in order to gain competitiveness, but

01:52also to enhance productivity.

01:55It's clear that the focus is elsewhere.

01:58The Commission plans to present its proposals in the coming months.

02:02While some of them will have tangible effects quickly, it recognizes that boosting competitiveness

02:07is a longer-term process.

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