The European Union’s emergent industrial policy regime has raised concerns over lacking ambition and scope to keep pace with policy initiatives in both China and the US. Inadequate financial means and an overly reliance on private financial market actors to bring forward investment aligned with official goals is one line of criticism; deficient strategic coordination within the European multilevel system is another. This working paper addresses these concerns by discussing the role of three central EU institutions in the emergent regime: the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the European Investment Bank. We review each institution’s respective contribution and shortcoming in European industrial policy and highlight the dimensions of institutional change over the past 15 years as well as their limitations in re-making EU industrial policy fit for the current challenges. Particularly, we provide insights on potentials for and obstacles to effective industrial policy coordination on the supranational level.

Read the document