Richard Dick, President of British electroctechnical manufacturing association BEAMA, has taken an Orgalime delegation (led by President
Martine Clement and President- Elect Edward Krubasik) to brief
Ian Pearson, Under Secretary of State for Trade, on European
engineering industry expectations from the UK’s EU Council Presidency.
The delegation revealed that there was widespread industrial support across Europe for Prime Minister Blair’s stance on taking up the Presidency,but warned that failure to keep a significant manufacturing base within Europe would lead to the loss of jobs in service industries as well.
Orgalime urged the minister to ensure the re-launch of the Lisbon agenda (with its focus on jobs, growth and competitiveness) remains at the centre of the EU agenda for the period of the UK Presidency and beyond.
BEAMA’s Richard Dick says: “The current over-regulation of EU business damages our competitiveness and economies and it is driving manufacturing out of the EU.
“Where manufacturing goes,
R&D soon follows.It is therefore essential that before any new regulations are introduced a rigorous impact assessment should be carried out. This must consider the effect on competitiveness as
well as environmental and social issues.Driving manufacturing out of Europe will not benefit the global environment,as Europe already
has higher standards than most other areas.”
Turning to particular regulation,Orgalime urged the minister to encourage real collaboration between member states,the Commission and
industry to make the WEEE and RoHS directives work effectively and uniformly across the EU.
It believes problemssurrounding ‘the scope’ should be resolved quickly with implementation of the RoHS directive delayed until clear
guidance on applying the substance bans is available. Orgalime has asked for a meeting with Commissioner Dimas with a view to requesting
a two-year transition period to phase in the obligations under
RoHS by 2008.
