Informal Competitiveness Council on the Alignment of Industry and Trade, 4th of February 2025: Cerame-Unie welcomes such alignment to strengthen the level playing field for EU manufacturing.
On February 4th, during their informal meeting in Warsaw, ministers responsible for industry, internal market, and trade, set priorities on the alignment of trade and industrial policies in order to strengthen the EU’s global competitiveness.
© Chancellery of the Prime Minister/ PAP S.A.
Chaired by Krzysztof Paszyk, the Polish Minister for Development and Technology, and attended also by Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, and the Commissioner responsible for trade and economic security, Maroš Šefčovič, the meeting highlighted the need to prioritize harmony and coherent actions in industrial and trade policies, to overcome the current challenges in competitiveness that Europe is facing.
According to the conclusions, “Ministers agreed that trade policy instruments should be more closely aligned with industrial policy objectives to strengthen the global competitiveness of European businesses.”
Cerame-Unie supports an assertive and effective use of trade policy instruments aligned with the objective of restoring the competitiveness of European manufacturing.
The conclusions also highlight the importance of “supporting traditionally strong sectors such as chemicals, steel, and automotive.”
In that respect, we also stress the need to support those manufacturing sectors dominated by local and energy intensive industries and SMEs, such as the European ceramic industry. These businesses are essential to strategic value chains and have been, and continue to be, severely impacted by the energy crisis and increase in regulatory pressure. They are subject to the same targets, policies, regulations, international competition and unfair trade practices as the larger and more concentrated sectors.
The European Ceramic industry calls for a tailored Clean Industrial Deal, that also addresses the needs of Local Energy Intensive industries and SMEs in Europe (https://bit.ly/40OJ58d)
We therefore warmly welcome a discussion on the alignment of trade and industrial policies at the EU level, being the Ceramic industry exposed to international competition, and the announcement that the Clean Industrial Deal will operate on a global scale, without however losing sight of crucial priorities, such as levelling the playing field with third countries.