INDUSTRIAL POLICY : BARROSO AND RIFKIN ARGUE FOR "THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION".

The call by American economist Jeremy Rifkin, author of The third industrial revolution', resonates positively with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Commissioner Antonio Tajani. On 29 May, all three argued for a transition to a greener' economy at a Commission-hosted conference, Mission growth: Europe at the lead of the new industrial revolution'.

According to the American essayist, the industrial revolution based on fossil fuels is part of the past. Austerity policies are not enough to stimulate a new economic approach. In his view, it is essential to phase out fossil fuels and to focus on new sources of energy while tapping into digital innovations. Rifkin thinks that major economic revolutions converge with energy revolutions, as was the case with the development of coal and then oil. With personal computers and the internet, everything has become lateral. Energy must also become collaborative. Whereas with uranium, oil or coal a huge amount of capital has to be invested in a system organised vertically in relation to centralised logistics, the internet makes it possible to distribute energy in terms of needs.

The Commission president pointed out the strategic importance of industry in Europe, which represents one quarter of Europe's GDP and 74 million jobs. For the enterprise and industry commissioner, there can be no growth and no jobs without an industrial policy. But in a world with limited resources, sustainable production methods need to be invented and the...

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