Forum to discuss future of industry launches

A unique horizontal platform

For this inaugural event, Orgalim President Rada Rodriguez joined European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, the three MEP co-chairs of the Intergroup, Laurent Zylberberg, president of the European Long Term Investors Association, and other high-level stakeholders for a lively discussion on what is needed to make the green and digital transformation a reality. Orgalim is actively involved in the Intergroup as part of the secretariat together with CECE (the Committee for European Construction Equipment) and organisations on the investment side. 

Opening the discussion, Mr Timmermans stressed the historic importance of the collective decision in July on the NextGenerationEU recovery plan and both the opportunity and the obligation now to make transformative choices. "We need to make sure that when we invest, we invest in a way that is sustainable, that will lead us to the new economy in this industrial revolution, that will make us independent of fossil fuels so that we reduce emissions but also create resilience, and that will allow us to take the advantages of the digital era," he said. The Commission, he assured, "will offer the predictability of the climate neutrality [target] with a roadmap combining policies and instruments." 

In turn, the three co-chairs each asserted the intent of the Intergroup to contribute meaningfully to making those choices, as a unique horizontal platform for open and targeted discussions among key players for the green and digital transformation. Maria da Graça Carvalho invited Mr Timmermans to consider it as "the perfect partner for discussions for the work programme 2021."

Less burden, more skills

Zooming-in on those measures, there was consensus among the participants that efficiency and effectiveness will be paramount. Ms Carvalho called for a simplification of rules and procedures for enterprises and Mr Timmermans acknowledged that "we indeed need to have a focus on administrative burden, not just because it creates a burden where it’s not needed, but also because we cannot afford to lose much time." He cited the example of how it can take longer to obtain a permit for a renewable energy installation than to actually build it.  

Mr Timmermans also flagged the urgent need to invest in skills and re-skilling of Europeans. "My biggest nightmare would be that we are here in a transformed economy with our industrial potential leaving Europe because they don’t have the people to fill the jobs and at the same time millions of Europeans unemployed."