Economic competitiveness has been a building block of the European Union since its early days. Yet, no follow-up act has been developed to step in where previous EU strategies for bolstering competitiveness left off. At the same time, the EU’s share of global GDP has dropped from 25 percent in 1990 to 17 percent by 2020. This is disconcerting, not least as growth is necessary if we are to successfully address the great challenges of our time – geopolitical, security-related, climate-related and demographic.
That is why we must reposition competitiveness on top of the EU policy agenda. A broad-based strategy is called for. The starting point for developing such a policy framework is to enact reforms in support of open and competitive markets. The best way to address the rising tide of challenges is to make our own economies more competitive.
Our competitiveness compass for the EU is informed and inspired by a report which Swedish Enterprise commissioned from the think tank Ecipe. The report contains analysis and proposals for policies and reforms necessary for the next five to ten years. Like Ecipe’s report, our compass focuses on areas where the EU carries significant legal competence. The objective is to boost productivity growth – the only sustainable, long-term way to grow the EU economy.