Draghi Report | Conserva (FACE): SMEs should be at the heart of European strategy

Draghi Report – Conserva (FACE): SMEs should be at the heart of European strategy

“Strong coordination and investments needed to tackle future challenges”

“Without strong coordination between national and European institutions and clear political will, the proposals from the European Competitiveness Report presented by Mario Draghi, as well as those in the previous Single Market Report by Enrico Letta, risk remaining mere theoretical exercises. A clear mechanism of European financial solidarity and fiscal convergence among Member States is necessary to address these challenges. The strategy must include an industrial and green competitiveness policy that recognises the central role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” stated Mario Conserva, President of FACE (Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe).

“One of the most critical issues,” continued Conserva, “concerns the funding of the proposed measures. The European Union – Institutions and Member Stares – has mobilised €4.2 trillion to respond to the post-Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, but the management of these funds has not been sufficiently clear and coordinated. There are lingering unknowns about how these funds have been spent in detail and how the funds already allocated but not yet used will be employed. Moreover, the European Central Bank estimates a need of over €5 trillion to finance the digital, industrial, climate, and social transitions.”

According to Conserva, the problem is not limited to Europe: “the need for massive investments is a global challenge. The United States, with its $6.8 trillion allocated between the Trump and Biden administrations for recovery, incentives – IRA -, technology and stimulus funds, shows how the economic, technological, and climate transitions require enormous efforts. The world today finds itself in a paradoxical situation: on the one hand, there is an unprecedented need for cooperation and investments; on the other hand, it is crippled with conflicts and fragmentation.”

“This scenario risks exacerbating difficulties and to compromise the long-term development of the European Union,” warned Conserva. “In this context, the Letta-Draghi agenda should serve as a catalyst for greater cooperation both within Europe and internationally, and for sustainable growth. However, all this will only be possible with strong political and financial support.”

For the FACE President, SMEs, which form the backbone of the European economy, are “essential for innovation, job creation, the green transition and local development.”

“Despite this,” he added, “they face much greater challenges than large multinationals in adapting to technological, industrial, digital, and climate transitions due to limited resources, high costs, bureaucracy, and difficulty accessing credit. It is therefore essential to promote targeted policies that enable SMEs to become key players in these ongoing transitions. An inclusive European strategy must ensure SMEs have quick and simplified access to necessary funds and benefit from competitive and stable supplies of low carbon raw materials so they can compete in an increasingly sustainability-oriented global market. Only in this way can we build green competitiveness that leaves no one behind and strengthens the European productive engine.”

“The EU,” concluded Conserva, “cannot survive as a political project, let alone aspire to become a global power, without a strong industrial base.”

Draghi Report on the future of European Competitiveness is available at the following link: https://commission.europa.eu/topics/strengthening-european-competitiveness/eu-competitiveness-looking-ahead_en