A week is a long time in politics, and you may well have missed some subtle changes in EU politics that might impact the office print sector.
Last week (22 November), the German and French Economy Ministers Robert Habeck and Bruno Le Maire said they were “firmly resolved to work together to provide an adequate response to the most vulnerable economic sectors.”
The talks were about reviving European industrial policy against rising energy prices because of the war in Ukraine and the impact of protectionist measures taken by third countries, including the US.
These talks were against a background of earlier talks in October between the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have not enjoyed the best of relations in recent months but agreed about unfair competition from the US if Washington moves ahead with its Inflation Reduction Act, that offers tax cuts and energy benefits for companies investing on US soil.
The Inflation Reduction Act provides $369 billion (€355 billion) worth of tax breaks and subsidies to US green businesses. EU countries fear that the US law will suck investment out of Europe. Worried that this new US subsidy package could batter EU industry, Germany is now backtracking on its long-standing objections to schemes like France’s “Buy European Act.”
In a speech last Friday (25 November), Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, at the Trade FAC meeting, said: “Many of the green subsidies provided for in the Act discriminate against EU automotive, renewables, battery and energy-intensive industries. These are serious concerns for the EU, which I, and many of colleagues, have raised repeatedly with our US interlocutors.”
“Big deal,” you say. Well, it is. The EU is increasingly more concerned as the US follows China’s lead with massive state support for industry and adversely impacts the European economy. At this level, such thinking will and does inform all manner of policies that are in development.
What about imaging? Fair point. Last week the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) held an online meeting to review the Imaging equipment and its consumables, a preparatory study for ecodesign. This report is well worth reading. Eighty pages and information about the office imaging sector, and page 73 is particularly a good read for the aftermarket.
This report is part of a study that provides the data and science to inform policymakers working on new ecodesign regulations that will impact the whole office imaging sector and are likely to be brought into legislation in 2024.
According to two people who were on the call, an increased urgency from key member states to speed up the programme and get the legislation introduced earlier was interesting. That brought a smile to some faces and a frown to others.
