A "Made in Europe" preference? The idea may be an old one, but it has to be intelligent, according to Luxembourg Federation of Industrialists (FEDIL) representatives. At a press conference on Wednesday, FEDIL underlined that economic openness must remain the rule.
The European Commission's plans to support European industry through protectionist measures are being driven by international tensions, but FEDIL argued that it all comes down to dosage.
In strategic fields such as defence, health, IT and clean technologies, as well as essential industries like steel and aluminium, European products should be favoured in public procurement, FEDIL said. However FEDIL director René Winkin argued that Europe needs the right preconditions in place before it can offer genuine alternatives.
Yves Germaux, an advisor at FEDIL, said it was important to be fully aware that European preference would not solve every problem. Structural obstacles still had to be tackled, he said, among them high energy costs, administrative procedures and a lack of funding.
The EU is lagging behind in many areas, as one example illustrates: 75% of the world's computing capacity for artificial intelligence lies in American hands, against just 5% in European hands.
Georges Santer, another FEDIL advisor, said closing that gap meant massive investment, but for that to happen administrative procedures would also have to be made faster and simpler. He called for "strategic and proactive planning" to identify and allocate land for infrastructure, adding that all of this should be tied to Luxembourg's energy strategy in order to meet demand.
Representatives of Luxembourg industry also pointed out that the EU already has anti-dumping rules and criteria with which it protects itself, and FEDIL recommends making these more effective and quicker to apply. New restrictions on top of them could instead lead to administrative failures, the federation warned.
