The EU must embrace the opportunities offered by globalisation and face the challenges, agreed speakers at Thursday's business conference discussing the impact of globalisation.
European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik said the creation of new opportunities should be a priority rather than the protection of domestic economies, which is the case now.
This is why Europe is lagging behind rivals from the Americas and Asia, said Potocnik, who also criticised the EU for spending 45% of the common budget on agriculture and decried the current state of mind in the Union.
European Trade Commissioner Peter Maldelson also provided his view of globalisation in a recorded address, saying that the Union's trade policy is designed to benefit industry as well as consumers.
Industry benefits from the efforts in the framework of world trade talks to open new markets to European products, while consumers reap the benefits of increased competition on the European market, which is opening to the EU's trade partners, he said.
Yet Mandelson was pessimistic about the outcome of the WTO summit in Hong Kong regarding the liberalisation of world trade. WTO members will probably not reach agreement, he said.
The debate came after President Janez Drnovsek criticised the shortcomings of globalisation in his opening address in the morning.
The unfair distribution of globalisation benefits is leading to social and environmental unbalances and preventing the planet from making headway as a whole, he stressed.
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