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Market Vision - Dezentralisierung der Wirtschaft (Weißbuch 1993) |
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| Aus: Europäische Kommission:
White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment:
The Challenges and Ways forward towards the 21st Century. COM (93) 700 final,
5.12.1993 Decentralized economy The market economy has a decentralizing effect. This was the reasoning behind the "single market" project (Objective 92). Its aim was not only to achieve economies of scale but also to set free the dynamism and the creativity inherent in competition. Decentralization now also reflects a radical change in the organization of our societies, which are all confronted with the growing complexity of economic and social phenomena and the legislative or regulatory framework. Hence the growing importance of the local level at which all the ingredients of political action blend together most successfully and partnership networks are developing. Hence also the decentralization movement affecting the business world. SMEs are often cited as models because they embody operational flexibility and a capacity for integration which the units which make up the big companies are now trying to imitate. Hierarchical and linear systems are gradually giving way to interactive organizations. This movement towards decentralization, supported by the new technologies, is taking us towards a veritable information society. The corollary to decentralization is information sharing and communication. The information society |
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The dawning of a multimedia world (sound - text - image) represents a radical change comparable with the first industrial revolution |
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Tomorrow's world is already with us: by the end of the century there will be ten times as many TV channels and three times the number of subscribers to cable networks. In the United States it is estimated that six million people are already involved in teleworking |
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The United States has already taken the lead: 200 of its biggest companies already use information highways |
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At the heart of the development model for the 21st century this issue is a crucial aspect in the survival or decline of Europe |
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It can provide an answer to the new needs of European societies: communication networks within companies; widespread teleworking; widespread access to scientific and leisure databases; development of preventive health-care and home medicine for the elderly |
| The European dimension would give the information society the best possible chances of taking off. The Commission is therefore proposing, in the context of a partnership between the public sector and the private sector, to accelerate the establishment of "information highways" (broadband networks) and develop the corresponding services and applications (see Development Theme I). A more competitive economy Drawing maximum benefit from the single market While industrial policy continues to be controversial no-one is in any doubt as to the responsibility of governments and of the Community to create as favourable an environment as possible for company competitiveness. Compliance with the competition rules is an important element. It helps to ensure that the single market is a living reality. However, where companies are concerned, progress is needed in three areas: The first concerns the body of rules (laws, regulations, standards, certification processes) which assure the smooth functioning of the market. These rules (concerning pharmaceuticals, intellectual property or company law, for example) have to be supplemented. But, above all, how it then develops has to be guaranteed against the risk of inconsistency between national and Community laws. This means fresh cooperation between governments at the legislative drafting stage. Likewise, care should be taken to ensure that the Community legislation affecting companies is consistent, especially the environmental legislation. This is the aim of the strategic programme which the Commission is about to propose. The second condition revolves around small- and medium-sized enterprises. While they are a model of flexibility for big companies, they are also increasingly a factor of competitiveness as a result of "farming-out" and subcontracting. Hence the measures taken on the initiative of big companies to galvanize their suppliers and clients. However, the "demography" of SMEs, i.e. their birth, growth and regeneration, is also a matter of national policy. In some countries it will be necessary to adapt their tax systems, rights of succession and access to equity and to simplify inter-company credit regulations and practices. While most of the work has to be done at national level, the Community, for its part, must help to fit SMEs into the dynamics of the single market. The immediate task, therefore, is to work towards simplification and information. An initiative will shortly be proposed in this connection, among other things to facilitate trade and develop cooperation between SMEs across the old internal frontiers. The third condition concerns the accelerated establishment of trans-European infrastructure networks (see Development Theme II). The trans-European infrastructure Why? |
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Better, safer travel at lower cost |
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Effective planning in Europe |
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Bridge-building towards Eastern Europe |
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Remove regulatory and financial obstacles |
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Get private investors involved in projects of European interest (applying the provisions of the Treaty, "declaration of European interest") |
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Identify projects on the basis of the master plans adopted (transport) or in preparation (energy) |
| In order to establish these networks, promote the information society, and develop new environmental improvement projects, the Commission proposes to accelerate the administrative procedures, act as a catalyst, to use the existing financial instruments and to supplement them through recourse to saving as indicated in the annex. |
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