ABSTRACT
In Belgium, a small, open economy, the competitiveness of enterprises has for a long time been closely watched by the country’s political and economic decision-making centres. Concern about the competitiveness of Belgian industry in fact led to the “Act for safeguarding the country’s competitive position” of 6th January 1989. This law stipulated that intervention should take place as soon as the competitive position was threatened. That was the case, according to the law, when two conditions were fulfilled, namely when market shares on the export markets were lost and when at least one of the other four assessment criteria - labour costs per employee in the private sector, financial charges (interest rates), miscellaneous energy costs and structural elements (business investment and expenditure on scientific research) - showed a negative trend compared with 1987 and with the situation in the main trading partners. 1
