On the relaunched Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs:
Commissioner Verheugen believes that his new "partnership approach" to get member states to implement necessary economic and social reforms is starting to be successful. He expects the member states to be ready in time (October 2005) with their national Lisbon action plans.
On Lisbon and social and environmental dimensions
Mr Verheugen confirms that the three dimensions are equal, but, for him, growth and jobs are the main instruments to deliver on social inclusion and environmental protection. "You need more than just economic growth and jobs to have social inclusion and sustainable development, but without it you cannot have them."
On internal policy making in the commission
The commissioner is convinced that there is good progress on better horizontal coordination of policies, especially amongst the commissioners. However, he also underlines that there are still turf wars within the commission's services. "The commission still spends too much time on internal coordination," said Mr Verheugen.
On REACH:
Commissioner Verheugen, who has been accused by NGOs of trying to water down the new EU chemicals legislation, was remarkably clear on this issue. Announcing major amendments after the Parliament's first reading, Mr Verheugen is adamant about making REACH workable and "compatible with Lisbon". But he also admits that " the figures used in the past were – to say the least – a little but exaggerated. In terms of costs, REACH is not ‘that monstrum’ as it was described". Asked about similar proposals now emerging in the US (see EurActiv 19 July 2005), Mr Verheugen even hopes " that the final version of REACH will be a model for other industrialised regions, not only the US".
On industrial policy
DG Enterprise is expected to present a new communication on industrial policy in September 2005. Underlining that Europe "needs a strong industrial base", the commissioner explained to EurActiv some of the new elements of this communication. He warned that the new industry policy will not be at the expense of competition. "We cannot protect our industries against competition, they must compete. There is no way back to the old times of protectionism or state-interventionism," said Mr Verheugen. The new communication will address horizontal issues such as "intellectual property and counterfeiting", but will mainly be focused on creating the right regulatory frameworks for the different industry sectors. The Commission wants to make sure that there is "a close, permanent contact between the Commission and the different industrial sectors, so that we will know what is happening. This will act as a kind of early-warning system to identify difficulties".
On Turkey and the upcoming elections in Germany
German commissioner Verheugen does not believe that a possible change of government in his country will lead to major differences in EU policies: " I do not think in very broad terms that the political direction and orientation of the country towards European integration could really change." The former enlargement commissioner also thinks accession talks with Turkey should start in October without any reference in the Commission's mandate to a "strategic partnership" as a fallback option.
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