91997E3871

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3871/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (5 December 1997)

Subject: Competitiveness of European industry

With reference to the Commission Communication benchmarking - implementation of an instrument available to economic actors and public authorities (COM(97) 153 final), in measuring the competitiveness of the general reference framework, will the Commission take account of the regional dimension, which makes it possible to identify more effectively factors influencing competitiveness in various sectors, such as support for innovation, human resources development, and dissemination and use of information technologies?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (30 January 1998)

The Commission believes that benchmarking of framework conditions can take place at a number of different levels, including at Community, national and regional level. At the same time, it must be recognised that many policy areas affecting competitiveness, in particular as regards the regional dimension, are the responsibility of Member States.

It is for this reason that Member States are playing the lead role, with the close co-operation of the Commission, in the implementation of the pilot projects in the areas of financing of innovation, development of human resources and diffusion and utilisation of information technologies.

In the case of economic and social cohesion, it is already the case that regional development programmes co-financed by the Community in principle contain quantified targets based on analysis of inter-regional differences in economic performance and competitiveness. The effectiveness of the programmes ex post is then assessed against the quantified targets established initially.