Mon. Sep 16th, 2024

Internal market and industry: Main results of the EU Competitiveness Council

Mar 7, 2024 , , , , , , ,

Brussels, 7 March 2024

Late Payment Regulation

Ministers discussed progress on the work to reach a common position on the late payment regulation. Ministers exchanged their views on the basis of a document prepared by the Belgian presidency. The main points of discussion were the choice of the legal instrument (directive or regulation) and the binding 30 day payment periods (whether they should be fixed or adapted to the situations in which businesses operate).

The late payment regulation proposal is part of the ‘SME relief package’, a series of initiatives presented by the Commission on 12 September 2023 to address the main needs of small and medium enterprises in the current economic environment.

The legal text proposed by the Commission changes the current legislation (late payment directive) into a regulation and addresses the current shortcomings, including the lack of sufficient preventive measures and suitable deterrents whose enforcement and redress mechanisms are insufficient.

The 2024 annual single market and competitiveness report

Ministers held an exchange of views on the 2024 annual single market and competitiveness report (ASMCR) which was published by the Commission on 14 February. The annual single market and competitiveness report responds to a request of the March 2023 by the European Council to monitor the state of the single market and its competitiveness. Compared with previous editions, this year’s report includes new competitiveness indicators, in line with the 2023 Commission’s communication: ‘Long-term competitiveness of the EU: looking beyond 2030’. The report analyses the situation of the single market based on the nine competitiveness areas: the functioning of the single market, access to private capital, public investment and infrastructure, research and innovation, energy, circularity, digitalisation, education and skills, and trade and open strategic autonomy.

The discussion was structured around a paper prepared by the Belgian presidency which invited ministers to reflect on four topics: main drivers for competitiveness, how to improve the ASMCR in the future (i.e. with new key performance indicators), how to strengthen the EU’s open strategic autonomy without creating distortions in the single market, and main objectives of the single market enforcement taskforce (SMET).

Other business

Under any other business, ministers were informed of five issues:

  • The presidency informed member states about the state of play of the different legislative initiatives that are currently under discussion. In particular, the presidency debriefed ministers on the state-of-play regarding three important proposals:
The Forced Labour Ban Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence
Infographic – Single Market Emergency Instrument

See full infographic

The internal market emergency and resilience act (former SMEI)

The presidency and the Commission informed ministers about the progress on the ‘European agenda for tourism 2030’ and the informal council of tourism ministers that the Belgian presidency held in Louvain-la-Neuve on 19-20 February.

The German, Dutch, Danish, Spanish, Finnish and Portuguese delegations informed ministers about the need to update the strategy for the maritime sector at the European level. The current strategy, the so-called ‘LeaderSHIP 2020’, was adopted in response to the economic crisis in the shipbuilding sector in 2013 and has not been changed since. Germany and the Netherlands called on the Commission to publish a new maritime strategy and asked the Belgian presidency to consider the specific needs of the maritime industry in the forthcoming draft Council conclusions on industrial policy.

State-aid rules for long-term competitiveness

At the request of the Swedish delegation and 10 other member states, ministers were informed about the impact of state-aid rules for long-term competitiveness. The Swedish delegation proposed a long-term approach to state-aid instead of the current short-term relaxation measures.

Medicine shortages

At the request of the French delegation, ministers had a point in the agenda about ways in which to improve the security of medicines supply in the EU. The French delegation pointed out  that Europe is highly dependent on imports of critical medicines manufactured in Asia, as revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The delegation stated that, on 2 May 2023, 22 member states signed a non-paper highlighting the need to improve the security of medicines supply in Europe, by promoting a legislative initiative in the form of a ‘critical medicines act’ in order to strengthen Europe’s production capacities as well as Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy.

Future of EU industrial policy

During lunch, ministers held a debate on the future of EU’s industrial policy, The debate was framed by a note prepared by the presidency in which ministers were invited to consider the sectors in which the EU already has a competitive advantage, as well as the key indicators used to identify them.

‘Strengthening our competitiveness’ is one of the six priorities of the Belgian presidency. It calls on the EU to prioritise its long-term competitiveness and industrial policies, in a changing world with new geopolitical realities and disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence. One of the specific outcomes of this priority will be the adoption of the Council conclusions on the future of EU industrial policy in the COMPET Council of 24 May. The exchange of views during the lunch will feed into the debate on the future of EU industrial policy and will contribute to these Council conclusions.

Meeting information
  • Meeting n°4010
  • 7 March 2024
Preparatory documents
Outcome documents

 

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