EUROPEAN UNION: GERHARD SCHRODER URGES COMMISSION TO TAKE GREATER ACCOUNT OF INDUSTRY.

Besides Romano Prodi, Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der was also able to discuss his concerns with Competition Commissioner Mario Monti - with whom a further bilateral meeting should be held on the specific issue of motor vehicle distribution, Internal Market and Taxation Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, Enterprise Policy and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen, and Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstr?m. The meeting was pencilled in at the Barcelona Summit in March, at which the German Chancellor had condemned the Commission's "neo-liberal policies". The dinner finally proceeded in a relaxed atmosphere, according to Messrs Prodi and Schr?der, the latter not demanding an industrial policy per se from the Commission in the form of a Communication.The German Chancellor nevertheless notes that, as a net exporter, Germany has nothing to fear from competition in world markets, but that Europe would benefit greatly from a strengthened industrial strategy. Mr Schr?der puts forward five key elements for this approach:- Europe should look on the Single Market as a shared domestic market, a source of strength in the face...