Market Regulation in the EU Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Market Regulation in the EU - Essay Example11 c. Specific and sectoral or vertical industrial policy in the EU . 14 IV. Analysing the contests associated with formulating EU industrial policy ................................................ 17 V. Conclusion and recommendations . 19 Endnotes ............................................................................................. 21 References 24 Introduction According to Foreman-Peck and Federico (1999, pp. 2-3), industrial policy is an elusive concept which aims to cover almost everything that affects the performance of an industry.1 Considering the importance of European Union (EU) industrial policy in terms of promoting business growth in the industry sector, EU industrial policy was included under the EC conformity (Title XVI) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).2 Given that industrial policy can be utilise in hastening structural changes in industry, this device is often used in influencing the structure of the industry. Prior to the development of industrial policy, the European Commissions first report in the 1990s revealed that the European Parliament was debating how to say a clearly-defined industrial policy which could improve the global competitiveness of the EU fractions.3 To prevent cases of de-industrialization, the main purpose of creating an industrial policy in the EU was to project that there is a common policy framework to be used in promoting fair market competition among the industrial sector.4 In other words, EU industrial policy is not limited to preventing cases of de-industrialization but also covers cases of red tape or corruption on the part of the government officials who are immediately involved in the allocation of the available infrastructure budget. The EU is complex in the sense that it is composed of 27 different countries across the European continent. In line with this, the Central Intelligence Agency (2011) has identified the 27 members of the European Union as follows Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Free market competition among the EU member states and the free movement of goods and services are among the few goals associated with the development of industrial policy in the European Union.5 Considering the large number of EU member states, the challenge behind the formulation of industrial policy in the EU includes the limitation of the available industrial policy in preventing instances of market distortion and market favouritism among the EU countries. Given the complexity of the political and economic structure of the EU, this paper will focus on determining and critically assessing the main challenges associated with the formulation of EU industrial policy. As well as discussing the scope and limitations of industry policy in Europe, the inter-state and inter-regional markets within the EU will be tackled as part of the raillery of the significance of the framework aspect. Likewise, this paper will also analyse and discuss issues regarding the development of specific and sectoral industrial policies and issues related to horizontal industry. The scope and limit