State Secretary Sven Giegold is in Brussels today representing the Federal Government at the EU Competitiveness Council. Now that the most important legislative projects of this parliament are close to completion, discussions about the priorities for the next parliament and the necessary measures to be taken are now beginning at the meeting of the Competitiveness Council. The Internal Market and Competitiveness Report of 14 February provides the basis for the debate.

State Secretary Sven Giegold said: “We can only strengthen Europe’s competitiveness if our actions go hand in hand with the Green Deal. We can only realise the Green Deal with a competitive industry. Almost 600 leading business representatives from 20 sectors made it clear in the Antwerp Declaration that competitiveness must go together with the Green Deal. This needs to be made a priority for the next European Commission. We need decisive action against unnecessary bureaucracy and more incentives for green lead markets and investments. I proposed today that the initiators of the Antwerp Declaration be invited to an exchange of views at the next Competitiveness Council. I will also invite the initiators and signatories from Germany for an exchange of ideas at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.”

Germany has also launched a joint initiative with the Netherlands to ensure that the European Commission presents an industrial strategy for the maritime industry at European level in the next legislative period. The maritime industry is a strategically important sector that contributes significantly to the expansion of renewable energy and the transformation of the economy as a whole. There is a particularly high level of dependency on Asian countries in this area. The last strategy for the maritime industry dating from 2013 needs to be adapted to current geopolitical developments and pursue a new strategic direction so as to strengthen the competitiveness of the sector and the strategic sovereignty of the EU. Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Spain and Italy have joined the maritime industrial strategy initiative.

The Council plans hold a debate with the Member States on the draft regulation on combating late payment in commercial transactions, which is to replace the current Late Payment Directive. The draft was presented by the Commission as part of the SME relief package of September 2023. According to the draft, companies are required to always pay invoices within 30 days and are no longer allowed to negotiate payment terms. An authority is to take care of collecting payments due at the creditor’s request. Germany supports the objective of the proposal, which is to protect SMEs from late payments. However, the Federal Government, together with many other Member States, has major fundamental reservations about the Commission’s proposal and has expressed its views on this matter in the orientation debate today. It criticises, for example, the replacement of the directive by a regulation, the rigid payment deadline and the enforcement of payment claims by administrative authorities.