Ireland is one of the best performers in Europe in terms of competitiveness performance and policy, a new EU report says.
The report, which looks at industrial competitiveness across the EU and presents policy measures adopted by countries to improve their competitiveness, says that Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden and Germany were the countries with a productivity rate considerably above the EU average.
Countries with a productivity rate considerably below the EU average includes Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Cyprus, Portugal, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria.
The EU report states that Ireland's main challenge is to return to a balanced growth path. ''The undisputed need to consolidate public finances necessitates a careful review of spending and taxation policies with a view to avoid the emergence of future bottlenecks to growth,'' it added.
It said that our efforts to shift growth from foreign direct investment based on labour cost and construction to more innovative sectors and services had already made some progress before the current crisis. It also said that Ireland scores well on many aspects of its business environment and work force.
''The country is well relatively well-placed to overcome the crisis although some challenges remain,' the report stated. It said Irish firms' capacity to innovate should be stepped up further, while they should capitalise as much as possible on increased investment in R&D and the development of a green tech sector.
Today's report said that Germany enjoys a favourable competitiveness position, while its business environment is also well placed for entrepreneurial activities. In the long term, it says Germany's major challenge is to avoid a shortage of highly skilled workers by adapting the educational system and the labour market to the changing requirements of technology.
On Greece, the report says the main challenge facing industry - and the real economy - is a business environment that is not delivering optimally. It says that improving the business environment will contribute to growth by reducing the costs of doing business in Greece - thus increasing productivity.
The EU said that Spain has implemented a considerable number of measures recently to facilitate structural change and enhance productivity. It said some challenges remain, including access to finance and easing the entry and exit conditions of firms.
The report says that Portugal would benefit from reinforced efforts to promote research and innovation, while it could continue to support a gradual transition to a sustainable, low carbon, energy and resource efficient economy.
