Business leaders want 'European Skills Pact'

Addressing the European Business Summit plenary session, entitled 'Is Europe Really Daring and Caring?', Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy said Europe's social model was under pressure from the economic crisis. He said the two priorities for the future are to find ways to pay for Europe's ageing society and to support the single market. "We also need a single market for energy in order to fight climate change, keep prices down and deliver high growth. We have to reform our system to survive," he said.

Rudi Thomaes, CEO of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises, said businesses need a more dynamic, culturally-aware workforce. "We need people who can lead cross-border, cross-cultural teams, people who can handle change and drive innovation," he said.  

Thomaes said there is a strong link between skills build-up and competitiveness. "A handful of Scandinavian countries are playing in the top league in terms of skills build-up but others, particularly in eastern and southern Europe, have enormous untapped human potential. Having a good education system is not enough to make you a champion in terms of innovation and competitiveness."

Frank Brown, dean of business school INSEAD, said mobility of skilled workers is essential but warned mobility is currently being hampered worldwide. He said education is the key to sustainable growth and called for more partnerships between business and industry. 

"The skills mismatch is a generational issue which will take a long time to solve. But history will show that there's no time like a crisis to invest in people," he said. 

The president of Microsoft International, Jean Philippe Courtois, said Europe should focus on innovation as a way out of the economic crisis. "If innovation is not at the core of the stimulus and recovery packages, the chance of sustainable recovery is low." 

Hans van der Loo, head of European Liaison at Shell, put the emphasis on scientific education. "We are using more and more technology but, paradoxically, young people are not interested in careers with science and maths." He said the status of teachers had declined as wealth had increased, and this has had an impact on how science is taught in schools. 

European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen said preparation is under way for a strategy to replace the Lisbon Agenda, which concludes next year, and a "clear consensus" had emerged that the new plan would put more emphasis on innovation and skills. "The emphasis will be on skills, education and training. Everywhere that Europe is a market leader, it's not because we are cheaper, it's because we are the best. The only way to be better is to concentrate on innovation." 

Lucas D. Papademos, vice-president of the European Central Bank, said the ECB had taken unconventional measures to ease the impact of the crisis on the wider economy and would consider other measures in future. However, he rejected the suggestion that a globally coordinated stimulus package is needed. 

Discussing the wider implications of the ongoing financial crisis, Professor Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University, New York, said protectionism is on the rise in Europe and the US. He also said in the US, people hit hardest by the downturn fall back on their families or find themselves on the street due to the lack of Europe-style social safety nets.