The first of this week's EU Industry Days kicked off with a number of preliminary conferences by EU officials regarding the future of the EU and its single market and how it will operate in a post-Covid world and in light of the twin transitions.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen preparing to deliver her opening speech. Credit: European Commission
An introductory and keynote speech by Markets Commissioner Thierry Breton was followed by an introduction by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with a speech championing innovation and industry as the bloc looks to set out its recovery plans coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read more: EC President sets out vision for European Industry in speech
"The past twelve months have seen geopolitics challenged in a way we have not seen for generations," Ms. von der Leyen said in her speech adding the importance of industry in economic recovery.
"We should not work just for our industry, but with our industry," she added.
Following her was a speech by European Parliament president David Sassoli.
His painted a positive image for European recovery from the pandemic, highlighting similar economic issues the bloc has faced.
He said: "EU Industry Days is focusing on new opportunities. Europe always gets out of a crisis stronger.
"We had to diversify the supply chains; we had to attract investment and production in Europe; we needed to explore circular economic options and we have to establish the European Green Deal."
The first major area for discussion for the day was a debate on marking the twin transition by gaining insight into how major industry players can aid in the transition to net-neutral.
The panel was moderated by Thierry Breton and featured a number of guest speakers: Ambroise Fayolle from European Investment Bank (EIB), Pierre Gattaz, the president of BusinessEurope, Murray Rattana Ngam of Ziegelwerk Bellenberg Wiest and Rada Rodriguez of Schneider Electric.
"The green economy is already growing faster than other sector and is likely to become stronger in the coming years," said Rodriguez, referring to the private sector's switch towards greener energy in the wake of the pandemic. "The future of manufacturing is the implementation of next-gen manufacturing processes," she added.
At the conference, Pierre Gattaz laid out a number of different areas the green transition must focus on.
Gattaz highlighted these four points to the conference.
He added: "EU recovery must engender a business-friendly policy by not putting too much strain on companies, which may have been hard-hit by the pandemic."
"We should be very proud to be European."
An artists' rendition of the main topics covered in the debate. Credit: European Commission
Following the debate, Portugal's minister for the state, economy and digital transition Pedro Siza Vieria, whose country currently holds the biannually rotating Presidency of the European Council, said a few words on the EU's goals for the twin transition.
Read more: Greece pressures EU for vaccine passport
He said the bloc has all the tools it needs for a clean and fair energy transition, assuring attendees the government is committed to ensuring a friendly environment to allow it to take place.
The next debate looked into the future of the EU's single market and its role in pandemic recovery.
Jacques Pelkmanns of the European think-tank CEPS, who was part of this discussion, said the EU single market was very important but should not be the primary driver of economic recovery.
He added: "There are still barriers to be found which will not go away and when you have a long list that will constantly evolve. It may be difficult to apply.
"The single market cannot be 'the key' to economic recovery, it is simply part of a bigger solution."
After a short break, the conference continued with a debate between Martin Sandbu, an analyst for the FT and Sven Smit of McKinsey & Company.
They primarily discussed whether or not habits would be changed permanently in a post-Covid world and the effects the pandemic has had on governments.
Smit said a number of habits, such as shopping and working habits may be forever changed owing to increased digitalisation but added other areas, such as schooling, are likely to return to normal once the pandemic is over.
Smit said: "Europe is a very open economy, and its member states are very open economies. It is part of why the pandemic hit Europe so hard and is why it has been difficult to maintain within the bloc. It also means recovery will depend on how other nations react to the pandemic."
The final conference was about the "Next Generation EU" project - a collection of young entrepreneurs looking to shift business in a more sustainable direction.
The panel speakers included Flavio Proietti Pantsoti, the president of Officine Italia; Lorcan O Catha, the CEO of Money254; Lucie Basch, the co-founder of the phone app Too Good To Go; Ally Dragoset, the CEO of Sea Going Green, a sustainable tourism firm.
Next Generation EU represents innovative new ideas for the next generation of legislature and businesspeople. As Flavio Proietti Pantsoti said in the conference: "Not necessarily about recovery but moving forward."
Lucie Basch said: "Everything we thought was impossible became possible with the effects of Covid, such as the switch to online-only, and opened a whole new world of possibilities."
Join IndustryEurope on Twitter or via the liveblog on our website for more coverage of EU Industry Days.
Back to Homepage
Back to Technology & Innovation