Motor Vehicles and Aftermarket

The European Union's motor vehicle sector is undergoing rapid Europeanization due to new technical and environmental regulations. Moreover, with the enlargement, the market for motor vehicles has grown in terms of producers as well as purchasers. The industry is now part of an overall increasing market with intricate rules of competition.

Pharmaceuticals

The pharmaceutical sector is one of the most important in Europe because of its positive impact on the EU's trade balance and employment. It has a highly skilled workforce, helping to maintain the Union's science base and is a highly profitable industry. The primary challenges within the industry include getting new medicines to market more quickly, overall market penetration and competitive pricing, the need for fully developed Intellectual Property protection and strengthening of the links between biotech and supporting businesses. The pharmaceutical industry has the highest share of Research and Development expenditures among other high tech industries.

Energy

Approximately 80% of the energy that the EU uses is generated from fossil fuels, namely oil, natural gas and coal. Nevertheless, the energy policy of the EU holds a long-term goal of transforming the existing fossil-fuel based energy system into a more secure, energy-efficient, and sustainable one that is less dependent upon imports. The Commission sets out the action plan to enhance the knowledge of renewable energy sources through research in order to realize the sustainable energy mix goal in the near future. Accordingly, the EU private sector urgently requires to be engaged in research & development projects as well as raise investment regarding the alternative sources that are less costly and more environment-friendly.

Employment

At the Lisbon European Council in 2000, the European Union put forth a new strategic aim for the next decade: to develop into the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and better social cohesion. The strategy was to be carried out by 2010.

The Council's aim is to raise the overall EU employment rate to 70% and to increase the number of women in the workforce up to 60% by 2010. However, employment in the EU is currently declining, which presents a major challenge to the Union.

The European Employment Strategy (EES) and the European Social Fund (ESF) are to be used towards the EU's employment and growth strategy and to speed up the process of the Lisbon targets. The importance given to social rights, gender equality issues and the inclusion of social partners in all stages of decision making are the backbone of the EU employment strategy along with the aim of becoming the most competitive economy in the world.

Transport

Transport is a fundamental feature of the European economy, employing more than ten million people. Total expenditures of the transport industry run to 100 billion euros, which is more than 10% of the GDP. As demand for transport continues to increase, the Union's response cannot be limited to building new infrastructure and opening up markets. Plans for the future of the transport sector must be considered significant economic indicators. Among the debates concerning the transport policy of the EU, CPS is specifically involved in:

• Maritime Transport
  
  The importance of the maritime transport sector increases every day with the shift from road haulage to maritime transport, which is considered cheaper and safer. Following this trend, the EU is constantly upgrading its legislation in this field. Turkey, as a candidate country surrounded by seas, must pursue this example. Matters related to safety at sea are of special importance for ship-owners since compliance with legislation on safety will have major effects on the Turkish fleet.
• Road Transport
  
  The majority of domestic and international transport of the Member States is conducted via road transport, which accounts for 14 million jobs and 12% of the EU's GDP. Existing challenges faced by the EU road transport industry are safety concerns, ever increasing pollution, inadequate public transport, hurdles and delays in realizing inter-modal transport and the creation of trans-European networks. As indicated in the recent White paper by the European Commission entitled 'European Transport Policy for 2010: Time to decide' the European Union needs a safe, clean and efficient transport system and all participants should cooperate in attaining these goals.

Food and Beverage

The food and beverage sector in the EU is expected to increase investment in food safety, environmental protection and technology in order to meet new regulatory requirements, increase efficiency in manufacturing and meet supply chain and distribution objectives. CPS deals with the following major commercial sectors within the food and beverage industry: CPS deals with agricultural products, processed agricultural products, retail food chains, pet food and beverages sectors within the Food and Beverage Industry.

Financial Services

The European financial sector faces new macro-economic challenges across several different areas, from the budgetary framework of the EU for the 2007-2013 period, to insufficient economic growth combined with the ever-increasing problem of unemployment. The EU's sectoral challenges can be broken down as follows: Banking, insurance, pension funds and leasing are the fields where the sectoral challenges in Financial Services are particularly strong in the EU.

Telecommunications and Information Technologies

Regulatory reform and opening up of the market to competition has affected the practical operation of the EU telecommunications sector. Since pro-competitive forces pushed Member Countries for telecommunications market liberalization rapid technological progress in alignment with a harmonized EU telecommunications policy was established. Liberalization and competition are dependent upon EU regulations and institutional re-organization of communication markets. Those seeking to take advantage of new market opportunities are also likely to face many new challenges.

Iron-Steel

The European steel industry provided approximately 1.8% of the value added and 1.5% of employment in EU manufacturing in 2004. Meanwhile there have been rapid increases in steel production throughout the world, leading to significant decreases in the EU's traditional trade surplus of iron and steel products.

The EU has made significant technological investments in the iron and steel sector, has begun abandoning traditional methods and purchasing products from other countries. EU tariffs for steel products are not high and the trade is basically free of special customs. In addition to abuse of trade remedies, government subsidies are also considered a major cause of overcapacity in the steel sector.

Environment

The industrial sectors and the European Union aim at ensuring better protection of the environment while maintaining a competitive industrial base. However, major investments are still needed to elevate environmental standards of the industrial sector to those required by the accession process especially within new member states. Moreover, the REACH process and relevant actions should be critically evaluated.

Construction Products

Because all sectors of the EU economy depend to some extent on building and infrastructure, the construction sector is of great significance. The construction sector is a primary industrial employer in Europe, comprising 7% of the total workforce and 28% of the industrial sector within the EU-15. An important sector of new Member States' economies, the construction sector saw a turnover of approximately 38 billion Euros in 2003 in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary alone; and the market is estimated to be growing at an average rate of 4.2% annually.

Since construction uses more raw materials than any other sector, it accounts for significant consumption of natural resources, bringing environmental problems to the EU. In new member states in particular, many urban areas are in need of major restoration as well as trans-European infrastructure networks.

CPS deals specifically with the following sectors within the EU construction industry: CPS activities specifically involve cement, ceramics and acrylic sectors within the EU construction industry.

Paper

Pulp, paper and board are necessary for almost all forms of activity, such as communications and advertising, education, business, commerce, hygiene, medicine, food and beverage packaging and transport. Fifty percent of the European Union's paper production consists of graphic paper and packaging; paper grades account for 40%; and hygiene and specialty papers for around 10%. More than 1,000 paper mills and 220 pulp mills operate within the European Union.

Issues currently being debated within the EU paper industry include renewable and recyclable re-use of papers, innovative solutions to reduce environmental impact and new eco-efficient methods for slime control.

Chemicals

The chemical industry of the EU is reacting to requirements to advance its environmental performance by developing new, cleaner technologies and by putting into practice efficiency-improving management standards such as EMAS or ISO 14001. The overall expectation in this sector is to develop the environment by endorsing eco-efficiency by improving existing processes and products.

Cosmetics

The primary objective in this industry is to harmonize national cosmetic regulations at the community level. In particular, national monitoring bodies whose function is to protect public health, are concerned with the composition of cosmetic products and providing adequate information to end consumers.

The principles of the Cosmetics Directive concern consumer rights as well encourage commercial exchange and the elimination of trade barriers. Thus, clear guidance has been given on cosmetic product safety requirements in order for it to circulate freely within the European Union without pre-market authorization. These safety requirements relate to composition, packaging and information and fall under the responsibility of the producer or the importer into the European Union.

The issue of animal testing, the most debated issue in the cosmetics sector, decisions of the European Court of Justice and the negotiating positions of the 10 new members of the European Union are all issues which should be analyzed.

Tourism

Tourism is among the major contributors to the EU's GDP, comprising an average of 5%. Nevertheless, Europe is losing market share in terms of overall growth when compared to other worldwide markets. Fragmentation of the tourism business chain, inadequate knowledge about its real economic weight and disintegration of certain other elements are considered the main reasons behind this situation. Europe, which is still the number one tourist destination worldwide, is looking for ways to build on its strengths.