Vigenin: Europe must turn research into industrial strength

“Europe does not lack technology, talent or ambition. The problem comes at the moment when innovation has to be turned into large-scale industrial production. If we do not build the industries of the green transition in Europe, we will also lose our competitiveness.” This was said by Kristian Vigenin, Bulgarian MEP from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, at a seminar in Brussels on clean technologies, industrial decarbonisation and global competition between the EU, the US and China. The discussion, organised for the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI), focused on Europe’s position in the global race for the technologies needed for the transition to a net-zero economy.

The EU’s lag in turning research into industry

Vigenin pointed to the EU’s serious lag in turning technological developments into production and investment. The EU accounts for around 20% of internationally registered patents in clean technologies, compared with 52% for China, while the US attracts almost 70% of global venture capital in the sector. China, for its part, controls between 60% and 80% of global capacity at certain stages of several strategic clean-tech supply chains.

Industrial policy is more than deregulation

“We cannot reduce European industrial policy to more and more deregulation. The reasons for higher production costs vary: in some sectors the deciding factor is energy, in others economies of scale, and in others production efficiency. This also means that constant deregulation cannot be an industrial strategy in itself. I fully agree that we cannot simply copy the US or China, but must find our own European model,” Vigenin stressed.

Differences in investment capacity

In his view, the European strategy must also take into account the big differences in investment capacity between EU countries and regions. “We cannot allow the green transition to concentrate new industries in just a few of the richest countries, while Central and Eastern Europe lose traditional industries without new investment coming in to replace them. The European clean industry strategy must also be a cohesion strategy,” the Bulgarian MEP said.

Vigenin warned that without such an approach the EU risks achieving decarbonisation while at the same time deepening the industrial divide between Europe’s regions. In his view, climate policy, competitiveness and cohesion should be seen as parts of a single European industrial strategy.