At a time of public budget constraints and increasing global competition it is time to put the focus on how we can boost our industrial competitiveness and innovation capacity to generate growth and create jobs in Europe.

Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship stated recently that "we need to step up our efforts in making Europe more innovative in order to catch up with our main competitors and recover the path of robust and sustainable growth".

The Vice-President puts this on top of the agenda this spring and invites you to a high-level conference bringing in key politicians, experts and stakeholders from Members States and industry on the 29 May in Brussels.

Prominent speakers include:

• José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission,
• Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission, 
• Jeremy Rifkin, professor and author,
• Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank,
• Friedrich Smaxwil, President of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN),
• Philip Lowe, Director General, European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy.