Parliament's industry, research and energy committee brings together policy areas that have a "direct impact on people's everyday lives", says its chair Jerzy Buzek. The major issues such as energy, digitisation, research and innovation and modern re-industrialisation, are all of strategic importance and key to delivering the Europe 2020 strategy, says the veteran Polish MEP, adding, "although the last area, re-industrialisation, somehow overarches the other three, all of them are of strategic importance. In short, they are the pillars of a strong, globally competitive EU."
And according to the centre-right EPP deputy, the most important role of the ITRE committee over the next few years will be ensuring, "that across all these areas we develop the right tools to support our main goal of bringing the EU economy back onto a sustainable growth track". Buzek's aim, he says, is to "make Europe a better, safer and cheaper place to live, work, invest and do business".
"We must ensure that the EU's legal and economic framework allows Europe's industrial sector to become more innovative"
Top of the committee's list this parliamentary term is innovation, Buzek tells the Parliament Magazine. "This is an absolute obligation, not a choice. We must ensure that the EU's legal and economic framework allows Europe's industrial sector to become more innovative." This, he suggests, will require mobilising funds from the EU's R&D and education programmes and carefully adapting them "so that they can effectively respond to the actual needs of industry".
The committee will also focus on helping Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises. "As you know, they constitute as much as 99 per cent of all EU businesses. They are the real backbone of our economy, the carriers of wealth and progress. Besides, a lot of innovation and R&D happens through them." Therefore, he says, "we will work to ensure that EU policies support their development and growth". Helping strengthen SMEs, says Buzek, is as much about financing and openness of research programmes as it is about access to international markets, training schemes or fiscal legislation.
The ITRE committee's third key priority will be its work on building an integrated European digital market. "It is about the advantages of scale of a European market in lowering costs and driving the innovativeness of Europe's businesses". Both the ITRE committee and the parliament as a whole, says Buzek, have a "very good record in this field, and we will go further, with new legislation."
Exploiting the full potential of the EU's common energy policy will also be a key and "fundamental priority" for ITRE members. "Only with an integrated energy market, secure energy supply and the sustainable use of all energy sources can we hope make our economy globally competitive. This is the goal of the energy union, an initiative which I welcome as a new aspect of the European energy community which has been so dear to my heart since 2010." Buzek says he is confident that "the opportunity to create a truly integrated energy policy has never been higher".
The committee's aims mirror his own, says Buzek. "All ITRE's priorities are also my own, but all of them lead to that overriding goal that we all want to achieve – modern reindustrialisation. Our industries are desperately calling for a high tech, well connected and neutral digital market, for affordable energy, for research adjusted to its needs," he argues, adding that the EU, "must also double its efforts to ensure fair access to much needed raw materials for European producers."
"We sometimes faced too much fragmentation where we should instead look for synergies and cooperation"
New legislation also needs to be clearer, more transparent and predictable, says Buzek, reflecting the growing view within the EU institutions that long-term, stable and 'joined-up' legislative policies offer Europe's industries the best opportunities to grow. "I was extremely happy to see that our newly formed ITRE committee is composed of so many experts, former commissioners, experienced MEPs and former managers. Each of our priority areas I believe will be in excellent hands." His personal ambition, says Buzek, "is to ensure that all our strategic goals are pursued, that they are appropriately funded from the multiannual financial framework and that they are closely coordinated between the EU, the member states and the regions."
Looking ahead to working with the incoming commissioners, Buzek explains, "The ITRE committee has traditionally worked with and is used to dealing with around three or four commissioners, but this time we will be co-responsible for as many as six hearings and our members will participate in three additional ones; that's nine members of the college. This, of course, reflects the new structure proposed by Jean-Claude Juncker, in which seven vice-presidents will have coordinating roles as the president's closest team."
Buzek hopes that this "innovative alignment" will give the new commission a much more holistic perspective. In the past, he says, "we sometimes faced too much fragmentation where we should instead look for synergies and cooperation. I welcome this new structure as a promising sign of enhanced policy management. In the post-crisis reality, we really need it."
Jerzy Buzek is chair of parliament's industry, research and energy committee