CEPS report published under the coordination of CDP Think Tank
Publication continues of in-depth analyses as part of the Task Force “Towards a resilient and sustainable post-pandemic recovery - The New Industrial Strategy for Europe”, led by the European think tank Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and dedicated to the development of a new industrial policy strategy for the European Union 2030. One of the latest publications was the report by the “CEPS – Strategic Value Chain” working group, which is coordinated by CDP Think Tank. European industrial policy needs a major overhaul to drive up competitiveness at a global level. Participation in value chains is the foundation of the EU's industrial system. However, a number of structural weaknesses have emerged in recent years, which the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated. The report “Strategic Value Chains – Towards a Resilient and Sustainable Post-Pandemic Recovery” makes 13 recommendations that would increase the resilience of European industry by strengthening its strategic value chains.
Disruptions in value chains, caused by both the pandemic and continuing global geopolitical tensions, call for decisive action by EU institutions to deal with prevailing fragilities, take up the challenges of innovation, ecological transition and sustainability, and improve the capacity to respond to future crises.
Governments can play an important role in managing value chains. The EU should make an active contribution to improving governance of the production system, promoting more fruitful interactions between the public and private sectors and reducing excessive dependence on third countries, thereby fostering the growth of strategic industrial sectors.
The acceleration of technological innovation, the intense circulation of data and the increase in service exchanges along value chains mean that the EU industrial system needs to find new production patterns in which more space is provided for digital solutions. Indeed, transparency and data use along value chains would help to make them modern, resilient and sustainable.