New Industrial Strategy for Europe

The new Industrial Strategy will help deliver three key priorities: maintaining European industry's global competitiveness, making Europe climate-neutral by 2050, shaping Europe's digital future. The strategy is structured around two main ambitions: a more digital and sustainable European industry, and a strong autonomous European industry. 

A more digital and sustainable European industry

The Strategy proposes a set of actions, for SMEs and big companies, start-ups, research centres, service providers, suppliers and social partners, to address the seven following conditions needed to enable twin industrial transformations:

1. creating certainty for industry through a deeper and more digital single market;
2. upholding a global level playing field;
3. supporting industry towards climate neutrality;
4. building a more circular economy; 
5. embedding a spirit of industrial innovation;
6. ensuring skilling and re-skilling;
7. investing and financing the transition.

Under each of the identified condition, the Commission listed actions that were identified as key to meet the fulfilment of the conditions. Among these 40 the below were identified as of possible relevance:

• A Communication on the Future of Research and Innovation and the European Research Area to map out a new approach to innovation and ensure the EU budget is used with maximum impact;
• The launch Public Private Partnerships in the Horizon Europe programme;
• The adoption of the Circular Economy Action Plan and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism;
• An update of the Skills Agenda for Europe in 2030, including a recommendation on Vocational Education and Training;
• The launch of a European Pact for Skills;
• The adoption of a SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe (published as part of the Industry package);
• Follow-up to the European Data Strategy to develop an EU data economy, including the launch of common European data spaces in specific sectors and value chains;
• A Digital Services Act to update and strengthen the legal framework for a single market in digital services;
• Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, Renovation Wave Initiative and Strategy on the built environment.

A strong and strategic autonomous European industry

Alongside the Europe’s industrial transformation, the Commission’s ambitions are also structured around reducing the EU’s dependence on critical materials and technologies, and thus reinforcing Europe’s industrial and strategic autonomy.

As one of the four actions identified in this area was the need to adopt a new EU pharmaceutical strategy in 2020, including actions to secure supplies and ensure innovation for patients. With this, the Communication also outlined that the strategy would focus on the availability, affordability, sustainability and security of supply of pharmaceuticals – noting that access to pharmaceuticals and medical products are crucial to Europe’s security and autonomy as highlighted by the recent events linked to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Other key actions were identified as follows:

1.Follow-up to the 5G Communication and the Recommendation on cybersecurity of 5G networks.

2.Support the development of key enabling technologies, including biotechnology, biomedicine, nanotechnologies, pharmaceuticals, robotics, high performance computing and data cloud infrastructure and blockchain.

3.An Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials, including efforts to broaden international partnerships on access to raw materials. Critical law materials are considered crucial for a variety of markets, including pharmaceuticals.

4.An Action Plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries.

As part of the twin transitions, the Commission also wants to increase links between different products and services across sectors and plans to put in place the following partnerships and actions.

Full information on the New Industrial Strategy can be found here