Europe is trying to compete in a 21st-century world with 20th-century tools, and we are falling behind. While the United States massively subsidises its industries and China shapes its markets around strategic priorities, Europe clings to a vision of competition increasingly disconnected from geopolitical reality.
Europe alone plays by the rules. Others use industrial policy as a lever of power; we treat it as a market deviation. While global competitors merge, co-operate and scale up, we prevent our own companies from doing the same under the pretext of avoiding market distortion.
The global playing field is already distorted by subsidies, dumping and asymmetric access. Refusing to adapt is a weakness, not a virtue.
Europe must shift from procedural logic to strategic clarity, starting with urgently reforming competition policy. Preventing abuse of dominance remains essential but systematically blocking co-operation between European players in key sectors – such as semiconductors, batteries or artificial intelligence – on the grounds that they could become “too powerful” is economically counterproductive and politically shortsighted.
Providing European businesses the space to grow
If we want European leaders on the global stage, we must give them room to emerge. That means creating conditions for scale: adapted rules, encouragement of strategic alliances, co-ordinated investment and a definition of economic power that goes beyond fear of market size. In a world where competition plays out on a continental scale, a fragmented market without champions is a recipe for irrelevance.
This article is part of The Parliament's latest policy report, "Building a competitive Europe."
Competition policy must serve a broader goal: European strategic autonomy. We must ensure that Europe can produce, innovate and trade on its own terms. When public funds support industrial alliances or strategic projects, these efforts should not be undone by the rules meant to ensure market fairness.
This shift is urgent across all sectors: clean tech, critical value chains, defence industries and digital. Today, over 90% of solar panels installed in the EU are made in China. EU producers are collapsing under the weight of artificially low prices. In the digital domain, the ‘Eurostack’ concept — an EU-based digital ecosystem built on trusted infrastructure and open standards — is gaining momentum. It is a foundation for resilience, transparency and sovereignty.
Introducing European preference
Industrial strength will not happen without demand, and public procurement is one of Europe’s most underused levers. Nearly €2 trillion annually is spent on public purchases in the EU. That money must stop reinforcing strategic dependencies. Most tech-related contracts still go to imported products and services. That is a strategic mistake. Procurement decisions cannot be determined only by cost: They must reflect our industrial priorities and political values.
We need a genuine European preference. When other powers use public procurement to support their domestic champions, it is called strategy, not protectionism. Europe must stop being the only major economy that does not defend its own interests. Directing public funds toward European innovation, jobs and resilience is legitimate and necessary.
We are calling for coherence between our climate targets and the origin of our green tech. Between our digital ambitions and our infrastructure choices. Between our talk of strategic autonomy and our actual budgetary practices.
A competitive Europe is one that designs, builds and exports products and services that reflect its values, shaping the rules of global trade. This requires scale, investment and political courage. In a world where power defines influence, rules must serve purpose as well as principle. The real question is no longer whether Europe can afford a more strategic competition policy. It is whether it can afford not to have one.
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