Entering into international negotiations with any potential partner or client requires quality training. You prepare information about yourself, but you also try to find out about your partner – who they are, what their opportunities are, where there may be potential areas for cooperation. It is better to do this in advance, so that the first talks develop into wider cooperation if you ask the right questions or come up with relevant suggestions. So what might be relevant now for UCA/Industry4Ukraine members from the perspective of the key European associations that we have begun intensive exchanges with? This publication provides an overview of Orgalim, our potential #1partner on the European continent.
General information about Orgalim
Orgalim is a typical pan-European federation, with 48 various industrial and high-tech sectors national associations, from metalworking and mechanical engineering to industrial electronics, electrical equipment and engineering. Among them are the ones we often cite among the apologists of Industry 4.0 – in particular, the German ZVEI and VDMA. Orgalim also includes 20 large corporations, including Siemens, Schneider Electric, Phoenix Contact, Eaton and many other well-known brands.
The Federation is a #1 advocate and lobbyist for European industrialists, who are constantly concerned with protecting their interests at the level of the European Commission and legislation in order to increase the number of jobs and overall competitive position in the world. To this end, Orgalim has the necessary resources – a strong executive directorate of almost 30 people, a number of committees and working groups that develop tools to influence the European Commission. The benefits of membership clearly indicate the impact on European policy and the joint formation of industrial agenda.
The governance structure is similar to most associations – through the election of members a Board of Directors is appointed, which forms the Executive Board. The federation exists due to membership fees, as well as support of other structures at the European level.
Strategic course directions
Orgalim constantly produces analytical reports and position papers that reflect positions and adjustments of the association’s strategic course to strengthen its members’ positions. They clearly show where and how the federation directs its members’ efforts. The headlines of recent position papers make it clear that Orgalim’s focus is on developing clear positions on the double green and digital transition, as well as securing the position of European producers and their trade preferences in the face of global instability. This course is also seen in the names and composition of the committees that develop the relevant policies:
- Digital transformation
- Energy and climate change
- Environment
- Internal Market (EU) – standards and regulations
- Legislative sphere
- R&D and innovation
- Trade
In summary, if you are looking for one most expressive representative of modern European industry, and which is already heading for Industry 4.0 – 5.0, then of course it’s Orgalim.
Parallels with Industry4Ukraine
In our opinion, Orgalim is a typical representative of the regional business association of industrialists of leading developed countries. Similar associations exist in the United States and Southeast Asia, and they are the generators of policies from below – from business. And the obvious course of these associations is that it is clearly aimed at faster adaptation of traditional industries to the conditions of Industry 4.0. In Ukraine the only structure that produces such provisions at the national level is the Industry4Ukraine platform. Since 2019 our platform has produced a number of documents that should already be the basis of government policies and strategies for the development of industrial and industrial high-tech.
- The draft National Industry Strategy 4.0, from which a number of more detailed provisions were further developed:
– Policy paper on the innovation ecosystem.
– Policy paper on roadmaps for digitization. The first example is Ukrzaliznytsia.
– Accounting and analytics of the Landscape of Industry Innovators 4.0.
– The concept of Engineering-Automation-Machinery clusters.
- The National Cluster Development Program until 2027 project, which also details many cluster development practices today, in particular in the UCA.
- The concept and directions of change for the smart specialization development.
- The Industrial Policy Instruments Guide that should be a guide for all policymakers.
In a more concentrated form, our development proposals are in the National Economic Strategy 2030. The platform supports the fundamental work of Ukrainian economists on the latest industrial development of Ukraine.
By the way, some theses from our Industry4Ukraine Manifesto 2019 sound in unison with their provisions in 2016 on the priority of industrial high-tech in the developed countries economies.
In summary,
our achievements in terms of priorities, content and directions are almost identical to Orgalim.
What makes us different is details of individual provisions and power of influence. Unfortunately, our Industry4Ukraine platform is clearly not supported by any large Ukrainian corporation or international brands, and support of the most powerful industry associations is also weak in general. However, bringing SMEs together to a serious level of policy-making is difficult and time-consuming. Accordingly, the GR issue (relations with government) has repeatedly been raised on the platform as a key issue. With so much experience, we should have long ago appeared as a #1 stakeholder in the relevant committees of the Ukrainian parliament and be advisers to ministers or their deputies – which are highly lacking these modern provisions for the development of industrial, innovation and digital policies in the framework of the Ukrainian European integration.
At the same time, we see this as a challenge and are working on it. The strategic session in the fall of 2021 reformatted our committees, and the growth of the UCA in spring 2022 opens up new opportunities for increased influence. We have never been so close to our leading European partners as we are now.
Key theses for negotiations with Orgalim
So, as you can see, a good knowledge of the partner, comparing his position with our own, helps to develop negotiation topics. Negotiations with the Orgalim Directorate-General are scheduled for early June. And this is a continuation of the first C2C meetings in UCA since April. Possible topics:
- Joining the Industry4Ukraine platform to Orgalim with the subsequent interaction of our DISC committees with ones of their.
- Cooperation with Orgalim on key areas of integration of Ukrainian industries into the European space, in particular, acceleration of relevant convergence positions in the field of engineering and machinery. An appropriate joint committee could be set up to ensure the development of special support measures for the war period, including those in the field of technical regulation and standardization.
- Integration of Ukrainian clusters and business associations into relevant, already existing EU development programs and projects in the digital and circular industries.
Counter-proposals for negotiations with Orgalim are welcomed.
The Indusrty4Ukraine platform coordinator,
Olexander Yurchak