Orgalime - In Brief
Manufacturing: the Beating Heart of Europe 
The European Engineering Industries Association

Edition 51, May 2014
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Orgalime In-Brief edition 51.

The winds of change are about us!  The votes will have been counted and soon we will launch ourselves into the task of fully understanding the new European Institutional landscape.  Orgalime is already adapting - a vision paper outlining our 'raison d'etre' was approved at our General Assembly in Berlin in mid-May!  This document builds upon the 'Manufacturing a Stronger and Greener Europe' manifesto, previously launched in November 2012, underlining our core messages.

 

The vision document will be released at the end of June and fully circulated to the new incumbents in Brussels  and throughout our extensive membership network. 

 

Don't forget also to visit www.manufacturingatheart.eu and maybe even become a supporter!  Alternatively, join us on Twitter (@MFGatHEART) or 'like' us on FB [more

 

Please continue to let other colleagues know about In-Brief by using the 'forward e-mail' link at the bottom of the page.

Stable growth depends on supportive policies

 

Orgalime estimates that the engineering industry's turnover in the European Union should reach in nominal terms some €1800 billion in 2013, slightly lower than in 2012. The year 2013 started off poorly, with the European engineering industry continuing to contract, as in the fourth quarter of 2012.

 

Despite the improvement of confidence indicators in 2013, the European engineering industry did not manage to achieve growth. For the second year running, our industry showed a slight contraction in turnover of approximately 1.8% [more]

Loosen the brakes, member states! And now let's move on electric vehicles and alternative fuels infrastructures

 

European manufacturers of the underlying technologies, represented by Orgalime, remain ready to deliver the safe and high performing equipment necessary for this shift towards a low carbon and energy efficient transport sector in line with national safety requirements.  And today, the plenary of the European Parliament has rubberstamped the compromise deal reached by the European institutions on the proposal for a Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure earlier in March this year.  

 

"The swift adoption of the Directive in one reading is good news", states Adrian Harris, Director General of Orgalime, "we see this as the centrepiece of EU legislation to drive investment into these innovative environmentally friendly transport solutions. We now invite national governments to move quickly on this, so that Europe remains in the driver's seat in this area. We can expect significant future growth here and let's lead the way this time" [more]

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations - a way forward

The EU and US have decided to take their economic relationship to a higher level by agreeing to launch negotiations on a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP).  Orgalime is a supporter of the TTIP negotiations and in this updated position paper we further explain our views on tariffs on industrial goods, non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs), regulatory and other issues. 

We elaborate on the importance of procedural and regulatory transparency on both EU and US side, on the burden of unnecessary costs suffered by companies in the US due to the lack of mutual recognition of test results among NRTLs, on the need for freer access to public procurement contracts (at both state and federal level) as well as on possible solutions in the field of dual-use goods [more]
Circular Economy and the Review of the European Waste Management Targets

 

DG Environment has declared 2014 to be the European Year of the Circular Economy.  In this context, it envisages to soon come forward with a Circular Economy Package, which aims amongst others, to re-assess the existing European waste management targets in response to the review clauses set out in the Waste Framework, Landfill and Packaging Directives to ensure that they contribute to a more circular economy.

 

Orgalime, as the voice of European metalworking, mechanical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering industries, is providing its comments to the debate.  We do so with a focus not only on the waste management directives under review, but also with a view to the wider existing regulatory framework applying to our sector[more]
Resource Efficiency Indicators

 

In the light of the recently published Resource Efficiency Scoreboard by Eurostat and envisaged Circular Economy Package, Orgalime have provided further thoughts on the debate on developing meaningful and appropriate resource efficiency indicators following its earlier position paper on the matter: Resource use and resource efficiency is a matter of great interest to the companies represented by Orgalime.  

 

On average, some 45% of costs in our sector are related to raw material input.  Therefore, our sectors have to invest continuously into improving their own resource efficiency performance in manufacturing processes and for their products to remain competitive and cut down costs.  Our companies aim at driving costs down for their customers while improving the environmental performance of manufactured goods without compromising their overall 'fitness for purpose' with lower resource consumption or waste treatment costs.  Indeed, our industry stands harsh international competition and therefore resource efficiency is a constant challenge [more

Orgalime Response to public consultation on the EED Review

The European engineering industries represented by Orgalime are firm believers in the potentials of energy efficiency: energy efficiency helps in securing the stability and robustness of the EU energy system and decreases Europe's dependence on energy imports and therefore our vulnerability. These are crucial elements for supporting the EU's security of energy supply.

The EU 2050 Energy Roadmap identifies energy efficiency as a "no regrets option" and confirms that a high energy efficiency scenario leads to lowest electricity prices.  Thus, energy efficiency helps to reduce consumers� energy bills and to alleviate energy poverty. The International Energy Agency (IEA) confirms the significant potential of energy efficiency and energy savings measures to help for gaining time for a global climate change agreement and for boosting growth [more]
Orgalime Annual Report 2013-2014

At the occasion of the Orgalime General Assembly in Berlin, Orgalime issued their Annual Report 2013-14.  The fresh new design showcases the issues and events that have occupied the European engineering industries association over the past 12 months [more
Orgalime event, EU Sustainable Energy Week 2014

Preparations are underway for Orgalime's event, 'From 2020 to 2030 and beyond: How to bridge the gap and cut costs?' at this year's EU Sustainable Energy Week conference.  It will be on Wednesday 25 June from 11:15 to 13:00 at the room Mansholt (capacity: 120 seats), Charlemagne building.

Places for this have been snapped up with only very few remaining! Registration requires creating an account... [more]
The Orgalime Secretariat now numbers 27 and there has been a slight reshuffle!

Given that in the Commission alone there are potentially some 14 Directorates General of direct interest to Orgalime, an effective input from Orgalime can only be achieved with the committed support of specialists from its member federations and European product sector committees.

See who they are and what they do! [more]

 


Sincerely,


Orgalime Secretariat  
Orgalime, the European Engineering Industries Association, speaks for
40 trade federations representing some 130,000 companies in the mechanical, electrical, electronic, metalworking & metal articles industries of 23 European countries. The industry employs some 10.3 million people in the EU and in 2013 accounted for some €1,800 billion of annual output. The industry not only represents some 28% of the output of manufactured products but also a third of the manufactured exports of the European Union.