Economy |  In little over two weeks time the European Parliament is supposed to vote on the entire new Commission as presented to them by President Barroso. The vote in plenary in Strasbourg will promise to be a tight one with perhaps one or two heads rolling. Two portfolios of major future impact on the EU’s ability to pull itself out of recession will be competition and industry.

It goes without saying that the competition portfolio ranks top because of its crucial role in making sure member states play by the rules and do not introduce measures that rock level-playing-field. Here, the current holder of the post has done a remarkable job in not caving in to pressure from various interested parties. If the future commissioner lets go an inch toplacate certain wishes, Europe’s future competitiveness will be at a peril.

When it comes to industry, this almost as crucial portfolio, combined with facilitating entrepreneurship and caring for SMEs potentials in a common and global market, is as decisive for the future competitiveness of the continent. All talk about the necessity to create a European industrial policy as a vehicle to create growth and jobs, speaks in favour of having a commissioner that is not keen on picking winners and promoting champions. Rather, the holder of the post must ensure that whatever policy options there are to be proposed must in the end lead to increased competitiveness of the EU as a whole.

But the future EU competitiveness agenda will not solely rest on who gets what portfolio. All

Commissioners will anyway both directly and indirectly as a college be responsible for the route the EU project will take. Policy is what matters. And that policy s very much decided by national ministers in relevant Councils. The Competitiveness Council is the lead in making sure a comprehensive and coherent policy is put in place to safeguard future European competitiveness. In this council a strong political commitment to open market principles, to a sound business climate, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises, the free movement and to advancing necessary economic reforms must be ingrained and lead to the right polices being in stored.

Only when the right conditions are put in place, recovery and growth will be possible and companies can contribute to lead Europe and its citizens out of the crisis.

Linked to the future competitiveness of Europe is how it manages economic reform for growth and jobs.

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise has recently launched the report “A European Paradise”. It shows how member states have been successful in different areas and argues that if member states let themselves be better inspired by policies in those countries who have achieved success in areas such as entrepreneurship, job creation, R&D or green technology, the European Union could have around 9 million more business start ups per year, 40 million more jobs, 6 more European universities would be among the world’s top 100 and our annual exports of green technology would be doubled.

The Competitiveness Council on the 3-4 December will make some significant contributions for the renewal of the Growth and Jobs agenda. Council conclusions on the post 2010 Lisbon agenda in general and priorities for the Internal Market in the next decade in particular will feed into the European Council on the 10-11 December, where a solid foundation should be laid for a formal decision to be taken during the Spanish presidency.

We should also keep an eye on the Better Regulation agenda. Business has long argued for new, more ambitious objectives, the importance of the national 25 percent targets, better impact assessments, also for substantial amendments in the parliament and council, better and earlier involvement of main stakeholders. The Competitiveness Council is expected to decide on the future of this important file. The Competitiveness Council will also discuss the Community patent, which is long overdue and crucial to our continent’s future competitiveness.

All in all, as the Swedish presidency now draws to an end, many important decisions influencing the sustainable competitiveness of European business are about to be taken. This will be of great interest to us as they will largely coincide with our own business priorities and, together with the final outcome of the climate conference in Copenhagen, be a yardstick of the success of the Swedish presidency.

Niklas Bergström