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Speech given yesterday by Commissioner Breton at the EU Industry Days.

"Check against delivery"

Good morning,

I am delighted to address you at the start of today's session of Industry Days, devoted to the green and digital transition of our EU industrial ecosystems.

A clear green and digital ambition

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our ambition is clear. We want to be the first climate neutral continent by 2050. We have set ambitious digital targets for the decade to come.

Let's be realistic: the twin transition is challenging. It is costly. It requires new skills. It presupposes access to abundant, affordable energy. And the list goes on.

And yet, I am confident. We have undeniable assets: a skilled workforce, cutting-edge research institutes and universities, first-rate infrastructures and, of course, our Single Market as the backbone.

And we can do this together, accompanying the transition ecosystem by ecosystem, taking into account their specific needs thanks to the transition pathways you have been discussing.

Resilience, the third transition

Ladies and gentlemen,

Besides the green and digital transition, allow me to focus on a third aspect for our industrial transition: resilience.

The crisis has shown that we need to build resilience into our supply chains and our key enabling technologies.

Until recently, many believed that in our globalised world, supply chains were unshakeable; that there was no such thing as shortages. This idea has been shattered. “China First” for masks, and then “America First” for vaccines, have been a wake-up call for Europe.

We are experiencing this new reality well beyond the health crisis. Take the current shortage of semi-conductors, the energy crisis, our dependences on raw materials or the sharp price increase on timber.

We have also become more aware that our green and digital “industrial revolution” presupposes that we master disruptive technologies in strategic areas such as batteries, hydrogen, semiconductors, data, or cybersecurity.

Time has come for Europe to take its economic and industrial destiny in hand.

I believe in a Europe that leads on the markets of the future, not one that is a mere subcontractor. A "factory" Europe that creates jobs and gives itself the means to cater for its own needs but also to conquer world markets and export.

It is not a question of wanting to produce everything in Europe, but of diversifying our sources of supply, and securing the entire supply chain.

For two years now, Europe has been updating its software, so to speak, building a more assertive industrial policy, open to the world yet on our terms.

Let me give you an overview of what we are doing to:

1. Understand and reduce our dependencies;
2. Increase our production capacity and diversify our sources of supply;
3. Better anticipate and manage supply shortages in times of crisis.

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