“Business should realise that new sustainability criteria may please both their customers and shareholders”

Graham Watson MEP, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group

Is business doing enough to tackle climate change?

Probably not. Businesses have many priorities to juggle, including those of shareholders, employees and ambitious chief executives for whom profits are paramount. Environmental obligations are often perceived as a burden. Smarter businesses have realised that they cannot prevent governments legislating to reduce carbon emissions so many are now actively participating in the legislative process to adapt our society to the new challenges. However their aim is still to try and slow down or reduce the environmental ambitions of policy makers. This is the case for airlines, car manufacturers and energy suppliers alike. Some have fair points, related to lead-in times for new technologies, while others are genuinely concerned about becoming less competitive compared to their business rivals. What they are all missing is the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage through new sustainability criteria which may also end up pleasing their customers, their shareholders and their CEOs.

Should the EU be so concerned about the loss of manufacturing jobs to other parts of the world such as India and China?

Any job losses are a cause for concern and we should not take the matter lightly. However we also have to realise that we now live in a global economic village where technology and transport allow businesses to operate not just across counties or countries but across continents. The answer is not to close our doors or prevent our industries from taking whatever business decisions they deem fit, but to make our own business environment as attractive as possible and invest more in new, emerging technologies. We must maintain our open trade policy. Otherwise we risk protectionism and introspection dragging our economy down. We should focus on protecting workers from the negative effects of globalisation but we cannot always protect the jobs themselves. Our workforce must adapt if we are to survive and grow as an economy. Otherwise we would still be operating Victorian style coal mines and textile mills instead of biotech and IT businesses.

What are your hopes and fears for France’s presidency?

The French administration has been working hard preparing for its presidency of the EU in the second half of this year. Although French President Nicholas Sarkozy initially appeared to upstage his Slovenian colleagues by announcing his priorities for the presidency in January, on the same day as Slovenia was presenting its own, announcements from the Elysée have since dropped off. The French President has had his fingers burned on a couple of big issues - the Mediterranean Union and an EU military planning HQ, but has realised now that he needs to build policy by consensus rather than diktat. There are some big issues for him to complete during his presidency, not least getting political agreement on the climate change package and on reform of telecoms regulations. Meanwhile he must oversee the EU's response to the credit crunch and global financial turmoil which are beginning to hit the real economy. He should also launch a serious debate on the reform of EU's budget priorities and the Common Agricultural Policy.

This section is supported by the ALDE Group (http://www.alde.eu)