Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas:

Article 2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community assigned the Community and the Member States the task of promoting a harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of economic activities, a high level of employment and of social protection, equality between men and women, sustainable and non-inflationary growth, a high degree of competitiveness and convergence of economic performance, a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the raising of the standard of living and quality of life, and economic and social cohesion and solidarity among Member States.

In accordance with the Communication from the Commission entitled ‘Implementing the Community Lisbon Programme: a policy framework to strengthen EU manufacturing — towards a more integrated approach for industrial policy’^f1, the Commission announced the intention to call upon the advice of a High Level Group on competitiveness, energy and the environment, in particular regarding the basic and intermediate product industries.

The High Level Group should be designed to contribute to examining the links between industrial, energy and environmental policies and ensuring the coherence of individual initiatives, whilst improving both sustainability and competitiveness; and contribute, through the balanced participation of relevant stakeholders, to creating a stable and predictable regulatory framework where competitiveness, energy and environment go hand in hand, notably building upon input from research in this field.

The High Level Group should bring together representatives of the Commission, Member States, European Parliament and relevant stakeholders notably industry and civil society, inter alia, consumers, trade unions, NGOs and research/academia.

The High Level Group on competitiveness, energy and the environment therefore has to be set up and its terms of reference and structures detailed,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: