This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Scotland Europa Members debate
01/12/2003
A debate on the future of the European Union took place in Brussels today.
EU enlargement sees 10 new member states join the European Union in May of next year and Enterprise Minister Jim Wallace told the Scotland Europa Members Debate that bringing 100 million new consumers into the single European market would also bring "some real opportunities for us to exploit."
The Minister said that Scottish Development International has been working up a detailed plan that will focus on target areas such as electronics, food and drink, e-business and financial services and business process operations. He also stressed the significant increase in EU funding for the accession states offered considerable business opportunities for Scottish companies.
Jim Wallace said:
"The week after our international football dreams ended for another couple of years I think it is worth remembering that there is another "Euro 2004" that Scotland will be competing in next year. The enlargement of the EU next May to include the ten new accession countries provides Scotland with some real opportunities to exploit.
"There will be many political benefits for Europe as the two halves of the continent are brought back together but today I want to focus on the competition side of things and make it clear that Scotland will not be shy in doing its best to help our companies make the most of enlargement. Growing the economy is the top priority of the Executive and we are determined to do all we can to help business make the most of this opportunity.
"The opportunities are fairly clear. For a start, the Accession countries have attracted a significant level of European funding support over the past few years to assist with their economic restructuring processes. This looks set to continue and although figures are not finalised yet it is anticipated that funding support could rise from 8 billion euros per annum to up to possibly 20 billion euros per annum.
"Scottish Development International have examined where funds would be directed in order to assess potential business opportunities. The key areas of opportunity are predominantly in waste water and treatment as well as business and transport infrastructure. There are obviously niche market opportunities available companies and these need to be carefully assessed and mapped against Scottish businesses capabilities.
"Scottish Enterprise has recently commissioned some research to map the Scottish environmental sector in terms of business capabilities, size, and structure of organisations. This will help to inform our activities in the future in relation to exploiting market opportunities within the Accession countries.
"The Executive and SDI have been working closely with partners such as SCDI and have supported trade missions to countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary. SDI's planning process for 2004 is underway and has identified opportunities to take Scottish knowledge out to the Accession countries in sectors such as electronics, food and drink,
e-business and financial services & business process operations. Further
specific activities are being worked up at present.
"So I would like to encourage you all to make the most of the opportunities that will arise and to make use of the many varied sources of support that are available here today and back in Scotland."
Scotland Europa is an innovative alliance of public, private and civil society bodies networking Scotland in Europe. Its aim is to promote Scotland's interests to the key institutions of the European Union and to the regions of the EU and beyond.
The ten countries set to join the European Union on 1st May 2004 are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.