Europe cannot regulate its way to competitiveness

Europe's economic problem is not a shortage of strategies. It is the widening distance between stated ambition and the conditions faced by firms that must invest, hire and scale. This is an argument for focused government, not absent government: set clear outcomes, enforce common rules and remove reporting that does not improve either.

The Draghi report made the scale of the investment challenge explicit and connected fragmented markets with slower productivity growth. A serious competitiveness agenda should complete markets in capital, energy and digital services while testing every new obligation against cumulative compliance costs.

Small businesses experience regulation as a stack rather than as individual files. A disclosure may appear modest in isolation but becomes expensive when definitions, portals and deadlines diverge across regimes. Simplification should therefore measure hours and external-adviser costs saved, not merely count legislative acts amended.

There are legitimate counterarguments. Common standards can protect consumers, create trust and prevent national barriers. Deregulation that simply transfers environmental or financial risk to the public is not reform. The useful distinction is between a standard and the duplicated paperwork used to demonstrate it.

The centre-right should be judged by delivery: faster permits, a genuine single market, stable rules and transparent reviews. Competitiveness is not a slogan against Europe. It is the practical condition for Europe to finance security, welfare and the energy transition without permanent decline.