This year, on February 6 and 7, the Swedish Presidency organised an informal meeting of European Union competitiveness ministers on the impact of the EU Green Deal on EU competitiveness and single market. Latvia’s opinion at the meeting was represented by the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economics Andris Čuda.
On Monday, February 6, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economics participated in the XPO exhibition of Scandinavian entrepreneurs “Swedish Business Safari” organised by the Swedish Presidency and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. Within it, various Swedish companies presented their achievements in the everyday application of sustainable solutions.
On Tuesday, February 7, an informal meeting of EU competitiveness ministers on the competitiveness of the EU single market was held. It was attended by ministers responsible for single market and industrial matters.
During the meeting, ministers discussed short- and long-term measures to be taken in the single market in response to the current energy crisis and geopolitical situation to remain competitive and productive, while promoting the “green” transition.
Expressing Latvia’s opinion during the discussion, A.Čuda emphasised the need for smart and long-term targeted support activities, as well as conditions for export development and creation of new competitive advantages related to investments in human capital, technologies, innovations, research and digitisation.
The EU is currently facing competitive challenges and clearly needs a targeted policy to accelerate the progress of strategic matters. In promoting the EU’s transition to the use of green technologies, it is essential to create conditions that allow investment to be attracted without administrative barriers, thus not hindering the private sector’s ability to contribute to the achievement of climate neutrality goals,” the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economics emphasised.
The meeting was followed by discussions on how to create the best conditions for private investment towards the green transition. According to Latvia, all sectors will have to adapt to fulfil climate ambitions. For manufacturing companies, and especially for energy-intensive businesses, this will mean increasing the efficiency of processes and energy use, including the deployment of smart solutions. Therefore, strong public support and consumer support will be needed to motivate businesses to seek and raise funding for the development of a sustainable business idea of a product or service.
As part of lunch discussions, participants exchanged opinions before the debate of Ministerial EU Competitiveness Council on 2 March 2023 and the upcoming European Council discussions on promoting long-term competitiveness and productivity in Europe. Member States made proposals for an EU level long-term strategy for promoting competitiveness and productivity, which the European Commission was asked to deliver at the beginning of 2023.
According to Latvia, any long-term EU strategy should be based on open strategic autonomy, promoting strategic technological development in the EU and extraction of raw materials, while maintaining openness to trusted trading partner countries. It is also necessary to support enterprises in improving access to crediting and competitiveness. During the discussion, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economics A.Čuda emphasised that EU initiatives aimed at promoting protectionism should not be supported because this hinders global economic growth, and mutual protectionism will also hamper supply and value chains. Today, it is important for the EU to ensure a level playing field in the intergovernmental dialogue with the United States and China.