The Main Challenges in Formulating the Industrial Policy of the European Union - Research Paper Example

EU industrial policy was included under the EC Treaty (Title XVI) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).2 Given that industrial policy can be used in hastening structural changes in the industry, this device is often used in influencing the structure of the industry.Prior to the development of industrial policy, the European Commission’s first report in the 1990s revealed that the European Parliament was debating how to formulate a clearly-defined industrial policy which could improve the global competitiveness of the EU members.

3 To prevent cases of de-industrialization, the main purpose of creating an industrial policy in the EU was to ensure that there is a common policy framework to be used in promoting fair market competition among the industrial sector.4 In other words, EU industrial policy is not limited to preventing cases of de-industrialization but also covers cases of red tape or corruption on the part of the government officials who are directly involved in the allocation of the available infrastructure budget.

The EU is complex in the sense that it is composed of 27 different countries across the European continent. In line with this, the Central Intelligence Agency (2011) has identified the 27 members of the European Union as follows: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.Free market competition among the EU member states and the free movement of goods and services are among the few goals associated with the development of industrial policy in the European Union.

5 Considering a large number of EU member states, the challenge behind the formulation of industrial policy in the EU includes the limitation of the available industrial policy in preventing instances of market distortion and market discrimination among the EU countries.