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Inward investment
In addition to helping European Union countries compete in foreign markets, there is also a strong emphasis on attracting inward investment.Throughout the EU, there are examples of major companies that have been attracted to Europe because of the approach provided by EU member nations. Among the many attractions are the expert R and D organisations which have set up with EU backing and which can help companies develop their products. Other advantages include relaxed border controls and the prospect of being able to trade within a common market. A good example of this is the UK, where inward investment is estimated at 33% of the GDP, higher than Germany at 24.7% and France at 20%. Business analysts believe that one of the reasons the UK has such a high level of inward investment is EU support for projects such as the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), which is based at Teesside in the North East of England. Teesside has been a major European chemicals centre for many years and the CPI, whose backers includes the European Union, is working to develop groundbreaking new technologies by bringing together some of the finest minds in the industry. Such support has given the region's chemical industry a major boost, which, in turn, has created a strong sense of confidence as major worldwide chemical players have sought to invest further in the region; US company Huntsman recently announced significant expenditure in a new plant, for instance. More are expected to follow. Japanese carmaker Nissan was another example when it set up in the North East more than 20 years ago. One of the reasons was support from the European Union, which has long been committed to a thriving European automotive sector. Today, production at the Nissan plant on Wearside has soared from just over 5,000 cars in 1986 to 315,297 in 2006, a fifth of total UK production. Its recent model, the Qashqai, was accompanied by hopes that production would top 400,000 a year. A decade ago, when the North East saw the launch of a pressure group to promote the EU in the face of negative press coverage, Nissan was one of the cases cited as an example of positive news stories. Chairman Ian Barnes said at the time: 'The media loves bad publicity about Europe. 'Newspapers and television seize on the trivial and ignore important issues like inward investment. They like to forget that companies such as Samsung and Nissan probably wouldn't have settled in the North East if we weren't in the EU. Thousands of jobs have been created thanks to our membership of Europe.' |
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