Report on the Competitiveness of the European Metalworking and Metal Articles Industries (MMA)

As a follow-up of the 2007 mid-term review of Industrial Policy, the European Commission has decided to focus on a largely underrepresented and little known sector of the industry Orgalime represents – the metalworking and metal articles industries.

As a first step, the Commission carried out in close cooperation with Orgalime a study to analyse the state of play of the metalworking industry in Europe and to identify possible strategies for the future of this sector. Upon completion of this report, which the European Commission officially launched in June 2010 in Bilbao, a debate has taken place on the follow-up which is required.

As first measures, it has been decided that further follow-up workshops to highlight the contribution that this sector makes to European manufacturing will be organised under the Belgian and Polish Presidencies of the Union.
Orgalime welcomes the support of DG Enterprise and Industry for having invested the resources on this issue and welcomes the publication of this report which, for the first time in EU history, analyses in some depth an industry sector which has remained largely invisible to European and sometimes national authorities, even though it is the largest manufacturing employer in Europe with some 4,200,000 employed in over 400,000 companies representing 12% of manufacturing employment and 20% of all manufacturing companies. The sector also delivers 10% of total valued-added manufacturing.