Stockholm (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Europe needed a “smarter” and less regulated industrial and energy policies.
On the second day of a state visit to Sweden, Macron told a gathering of French and local business leaders that over-regulation put Europe at a disadvantage to the United States and China.
“We need a smarter European industrial policy,” he said.”We need more investment, more single market and less regulation.”
He called for more investments in critical sectors such as defence, space, artificial intelligence and green technologies.
Above all, Europe needed to accelerate the development of low-carbon energy.”Europe has to stop regulating hydrogen and other uses of electricity sources,” he said.
During his visit, Paris and Stockholm signed partnerships to expand their cooperation in the nuclear, defence and forestry sectors.
On Wednesday afternoon, Macron will visit the site of the European Spallation Source (ESS), an advanced atomic research centre under construction in the university town of Lund that is financed by France and 12 other European countries.
While in Lund, Macron will also have an exchange with students, and will accompany King Carl XVI Gustaf for a visit to the energy technologies company Alfa Laval.
