4th October 2011
A Pact for Growth
Dr. Vince Cable, the UK’s Minister for Business, Skills and Innovation, came to Bucharest last week with a very clear message – the EU has got to get back on the path to sustainable long term growth. And that means doing what the EU does best – free trade.
Romania and the UK are both huge beneficiaries of the EU’s internal market. Half the UK’s trade is with other EU members, 70% of Romania’s. And it is a Single Market that allows for free trade between Romania and the UK, trade that has been growing strongly in recent years.
Unfortunately the Single Market is not yet complete. National interests have prevented the full implementation of the Services Directive. The single market in energy is still to be put into force. We need a new Directive on digital services so that internet-based businesses can trade freely across the Member States of the EU. We also need to make sure that EU regulations stimulate the growth of business and jobs and don’t stifle them. Too many measures just add to the red tape that makes it difficult to establish a new business and expensive to take on new staff.
Dr. Cable found a ready audience for this message in Bucharest. In his remarks at the national bank, Governor Mugur Isărescu reinforced the urgent need for a vision for EU growth, based on support for trade and for small and medium-sized businesses. Dr. Cable made the point that completing the Services Directive could bring an additional 340 bn Euro to the EU economy. We need the stimulus now. This would also provide the basis to intensify business links between Romania and the UK.
British companies have been continuing to create new jobs in Romania despite the recession. Provident Financial has increased its workforce from 300 to 600 over the last three years. Endava intends to employ a thousand specialist IT workers in Romania by next June. Last week I visited Petrofac’s operations in Țicleni where they are investing in new oil wells and employing almost a thousand people. British companies also plan new investments in oil and gas explorations in the Black Sea. Dr. Cable was impressed by the opportunities in Romania, especially the quality of its workforce, and keen that companies from the UK should look to do more here. We have a delegation from Northern Ireland in Bucharest today doing exactly that.
The need to liberalise and increase trade has never been more urgent. This is how European economies like the UK’s and Romania’s can connect with and support each other. It is also how we can connect Europe’s growth with the dynamism of emerging economies in Asia and Latin America. Romania and the UK need to work together – bilaterally and in Brussels – to make this happen.