Competitiveness council urges support for industry

Helping industry prosper in difficult economic times was discussed in the Competitiveness Council earlier this month, in preparation for the Spring European Council. The Competitiveness Council discussed the proposed private-public partnership on European Energy-efficient Buildings, and urged the Commission to move forward with this initiative before mid-2009. The Council also wanted to see further progress made in the implementation of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) action plan, particularly the promotion of widespread use of information technology solutions in the energy sector.

The Council also said that the adoption of the Climate and Energy Package should enable the EU to take the lead in tackling climate change, and voiced its support for the implementation of the Action Plan on Sustainable Industrial Policy and Sustainable Consumption and Production.