A new Strategic Agenda
Cefic executive director René van Sloten and Cefic public affairs manager George Kapantaidakis give their take on the new EU Strategic Agenda
At the European Council meeting of June 20-21, the EU Heads of State and Government adopted the new EU Strategic Agenda for the period 2019-2024. The document provides political directions and priorities that will guide the work of the Institutions in the next five years.
It focuses on four main priorities:
- protecting citizens and freedoms
- developing a strong and vibrant economic base
- building a climate-neutral, green, fair and social Europe
- promoting European interests and values on the global stage.
The economic dimension is very present with a second pillar on “Developing a strong and vibrant economic base” in which the Heads of State and Government are asking the EU to design “an industrial policy fit for the future” and to “urgently” implement “a more assertive, comprehensive and coordinated industrial policy”. This specific reference is a big achievement for the EU industry as a whole and for the chemical sector in particular. In recent years, Cefic has engaged heavily with the Council of the EU and advocated for a new EU industrial policy at high political level and in numerous Council meetings.
As regards the third priority, the document states that the EU urgently needs to step up its action to manage this existential threat. The EU can and must lead the way, by engaging in an in-depth transformation of its own economy and society to achieve climate neutrality. This will have to be conducted in a way that takes account of national circumstances and is socially just. The climate transition will afford us a real opportunity to modernise and at the same time to become a global leader in a green economy. Our policies should be consistent with the Paris Agreement. The EU cannot be the only one to act: all countries should move forward and step up their climate action.
Regarding the fourth priority, the Strategy mentions that ‘an ambitious and robust trade policy ensuring fair competition, reciprocity and mutual benefits is a central element in that respect, both at the multilateral level in a reformed WTO and in bilateral relations between the EU and its partners’.
Please click here to download the new EU Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 as adopted by the Heads of State and Government during the European Council meeting.