#EUIndustryDays rundown: day four

26 February 2021 15:45

The fourth and final day of the EU Industry Days event was a little more relaxed than the previous days, focus primarily on the future of the EU coming out of the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical implications, including raw material value chains and the rise of China.

The events opened with Jona Kirsten welcoming participants and giving a sneak peek of the day's events before Valdis Dombrovskis delivered a speech on the digital transformation and Europe as a digitally autonomous power.

This was immediately followed by a panel on a similar vein discussing interconnectivity and autonomy.

The panellists discussed how whether or not China had emerged from the pandemic in a position to dominate international markets.

While both panellists could agree on China's success in dealing with the pandemic domestically, they disagreed on just how the country had performed in other factored, particularly regarding their official announcement of the pandemic and the delaying of the official notification and the gravity of its reveal to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The next set of panels were held in parallel and covered three distinct topics, all relating to trade.

The first dealt with EU-Africa partnerships regarding raw material value chains. The panel was comprised of those working in the mining and metals sector in Africa and the core of the debate centred around the ways in which the EU and the countries of Africa can mutually benefit from each other.

Eramet’s Bruno Faour described his company's projects in Africa and also highlighted some of the problems that some company's working in the region experience.

Glencore's Marie-Chantal Kaninda talked about how the company was the last large European miner in the cobalt-rich Kaninda region of the DRC. She also addressed the issue of child labour, pointing out that it did not occur in large-scale mining, the problem being the artisanal mines. She called for further economic development as a way to end the practice by helping people out of poverty.

Considering the regular bashing that the mining industry has received in recent years over environmental and human rights issues, Mark Rachovides, President of Euromines, nailed down the sentiment of the panel when he said: “We should be exporting our standards and not our problems from Europe."

Sheila Khama praised the EU's work with investment banks in helping to bring investors to the continent, as well as the work individual nations had done in education and responsible mining techniques.

The second panel dealt with value chain integration for the EU and how it can leverage its geographical and cultural proximity with the eastern and southern neighbours to bring manufacturing closer, diversify and ultimately achieve greater autonomy.

The third concurrent panel dealt with the evolving trade landscape and how the EU can remain competitive. The panellists included representatives from some of the EU's largest industrial players.

They all agreed the EU should change the way it tackles trade if it wishes to remain competitive in the global market.

Ill-effects from the Covid-19 pandemic have shown that integrated, global supply chains may not always be feasible during a time of global crisis, particularly when aspects of those chains are unsustainable in the face of any pressure.

The pandemic primarily exposed fragility to the EU's open trade policies and focus on cost-cutting as well as how much its industries are dependant on foreign goods, not only for raw materials but also intermediate products for manufacturing.

“Trade is very important for Europe and by the end of this, we must be prepared to negotiate trade with partners and with as many countries as possible," said L'Oréal CEO Jean-Paul Agon, one of the panellists, referring to the collapse of a number of bilateral trade agreements in recent years.

He added the EU should look to mend ties with the US, particularly in a post-Trump world with the tensions still being soured by Nord Stream 2 and the Boeing-Airbus disputes.

Jennifer Baker then hosted a briefing on "the public's favourite projects" - voted for by the attendees of the event.

These were projects funded by the EU and covered various sectors. In total, three projects were chosen.

They were Green City Solutions, a green climate initiative and Emergency Eye Technology, a project to aid in European competitiveness on the global market.

Dario Traum hosted another inspirational talk on the nature of green hydrogen as a potential fuel for the bloc's industrial future.

He discussed potential difficulties with its creation and theorised how it could best be utilised to replace traditional fossil fuels and pave the way for the EU's net-zero climate policy.

Following a quick break, an introductory speech for the next plenary event was hosted by Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General of DG RTD at the European Commission.

It covered the concept of "community economy" and how it can create a people-first approach to industry and how it can create opportunities, which was a major contributing factor to yesterday's talk on how innovation in delivering the EU Green Deal.

The panellists comprised mostly of academic economists discussing the feasibility of such policies.

For additional information regarding each panel, please consult our live blog of the event.

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