European Commission President Barroso Visits Festo

President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and European Commissioner Günther Oettinger visited Festo AG, in Esslingen, Germany, in late January 2011, during Barroso’s visit to the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The visit focused on success factors for strengthening the EU’s competitiveness and facilitating sustainable and ecological growth. These include Festo Didactic’s global concepts for technical education, cutting-edge manufacturing concepts for the factories of the future and completely new approaches in the field of energy efficiency with the aid of bionics. The EU’s main research fields and their implementation in public-private partnerships and cross-company networks are becoming an increasingly decisive factor for sustainable growth.
"Only those who invest in the future today will be able to successfully compete in future. This applies to both companies and business locations such as the EU," stressed Dr. Eberhard Veit, Chairman of the Management Board of Festo AG. He went on to emphasize that efficient and productive approaches - as well as often completely new manufacturing technologies - were required in the EU as enablers for the successful market implementation of new research results and key technologies, such as biotechnology. "With the aid of cutting-edge technologies, we aim to make our facilities more productive and achieve future success together with our lead customers," explained Dr. Veit.