Teresa Riera Madurell (S&D). – (ES) Madam President, the crisis has certainly highlighted the importance of industry as the driving force of the economy. Commissioner, we welcome the fact that the Commission has understood this, and has taken back industrial policy for the Union.

Our rapporteur, whom I wish to congratulate on his excellent work, has already explained how we interpret the transition to an industrial policy that is smart, resource-efficient, and sustainable from an environmental and social viewpoint. Of what he said, I would just like to emphasise one aspect that I consider to be crucial: human capital.

Assuming that every job should be ‘green’, it is vital for European workers to have the appropriate skills, not only to improve the competitiveness of our industry, but also so that no worker is left by the wayside.

We have a strong foundation: young Europeans have never been so well prepared, and yet we lack engineers, we lack young entrepreneurs, and we lack innovative policies for managing human resources. We should therefore encourage synergies between those universities with a strong entrepreneurial culture and companies that are truly driven by knowledge.

With regard to training, we need to adjust work skills to the demands of the new economy and to do so in a way that is economically accessible for workers and businesses.

Also, industry should place greater emphasis on organisational innovation, understood as a more flexible and dynamic sharing of risks and responsibilities within companies. Only then will it be able to incorporate and capitalise on the talent and knowledge of its workers.

Finally, allow me to say a word as a member of a group that has opposed the launching of an enhanced cooperation on the EU patent, because we think it affects the internal market, territorial cohesion and legal certainty. The Court of Justice of the European Union has supported this position in Opinion 1/09 published on 8 March 2011, which concludes that the draft agreement establishing a European and Community Patents Court is not compatible with the provisions of the Treaty.