European preference (‘Buy European’), GigaFabbriche dell’As, unique legal regime for startups, cutting of bureaucracy up to 35% for companies and SMEs, confirmation of climatic objectives at 2040 and 2050, on “flexibility” cars on fines CO2, but confirmation of the Target 2035 for climatic neutrality. Competitiveness and simplification and no step back on the Green Deal. Here is the compass for the competitiveness that the European Commission has revealed today. “Now we have a plan. We have the political will. What matters are speed and unity. The world does not await us, “said the president of the Ursula von der Leyen Commission, explaining that the programmatic document” transforms the recommendations of the Draghi report into a roadmap “.
The package of measures to relaunch the European industry in the next five years and fill the gap with the USA and China, has Three objectives: fill the gap of innovation, encourage the decarbonisation and competitiveness of companies and reduce the addictions of the Union. And “the best card” to do it according to the European President is to use the potential of the single market. A second appeal to the indispensable unit of Europe therefore.
One of the most relevant aspects of the plan concerns the introduction of the “buy European” principlewhich provides for a preference for European companies and technologies in public procurement. The model is inspired by the 1933 “Buy American Act”, still in force in the United States. The goal is to ensure that strategic sectors such as technology, energy and infrastructure can benefit from greater protection from the effects of international competition, in particular Chinese one. The measure is part of the strategy that aims to strengthen European economic security and to ensure that European companies remain competitive.
Another pillar of the compass is the reduction of bureaucracy for businesses. The Commission provides for a 25% cut of administrative charges for companies and 35% for small and medium -sized enterprises. This measure responds to the requests of the main European governments, including the Italian one, and aims to make the regulatory context more streamlined and favorable to economic growth. For facilitated life startups with the introduction of a single European system that will harmonize the regulations for the sector, eliminating the need to adapt to 27 different legal regimes. Particular attention will be paid to the simplification of the reporting on sustainability, two diligence and environmental taxonomy. These tools, designed to guarantee the transparency of companies on environmental and social impacts, will be reviewed to reduce the bureaucratic load without compromising the objectives of the European Green Deal. But for all this it will be necessary to wait for the legislative proposal scheduled for the end of February.
Nothing passes back on the objectives of decarbonisation already fixed: reduction of emissions by 90% by 2040 and climatic neutrality at 2050. Here too you have to wait for the “Clean Industrial Deal”, coming on February 26, which will foresee measures to lower the cost of energy and bear the high -intensity sectors with energy intensity such as steel, metals and chemicals. Today, however, no explicit reference to biofuels, a theme on which Italy has invested a lot.
Then there is the innovation chapter, with a focus on artificial intelligence. The Commission has announced the establishment of “GigaFabbriche dell’As”, which will serve to stimulate the development and adoption of these technologies in the key industrial sectors. In addition to the AI, Brussels will present action plans for advanced materials, biotechnology, quantum technologies, robotics and space. Defense innovation also requires acceleration. The European Union risks being behind defense innovation, with negative impacts on dual use technologies. To avoid it, the industry must guarantee complete capacities and towing economic innovation. The solution passes for greater collaboration, aggregate demand and joint contracts. The White Paper on the defense will define the strategy for the future.
The plan is therefore ambitious. Two doubts remain. The first question is on the funds: how will these measures have financed? The Draghi report had estimated the need for investments of 750-800 billion euros per year by 2030. The document presented today does not contain new figures or economic commitments. And the announced “European Fund for competitiveness” will see the light only in 2026. The other question concerns the grounding of the Road Map. It remains to be understood how the compass will materialize.
