EU Industrial Policy in the Multipolar Economy

Edited by Jean-Christophe Defraigne, Professor of International Economics, Institute for European Studies and Louvain School of Management, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels University, Jan Wouters, Full Professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam Director, Institute for International Law and Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, KU Leuven, Edoardo Traversa, Professor of Tax Law and European Law, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium and Dimitri Zurstrassen, Policy analyst and Lecturer on EU Industrial Policy, Luiss Hub for New Industrial Policy and Economic Governance (LUHNIP), Luiss Guido Carli University, Italy

‘In today’s global economy, high-tech rivalries, the transition to a green economy, and security concerns have encouraged more and more countries to expand government intervention in industry. Although many observers focus on the United States and China, the EU is economically comparable in size to both countries. In an increasingly multipolar world, the policies Europeans adopt may be decisive for the future of the global economy. Most analysts are pessimistic, given that the member states of the EU have failed to create the effective, centralized institutions they would need to manage such a policy at a continental scale. But these authors point to a silver lining. Centralized subsidy policies no longer really work, except where governments buy the output—as happens in the areas of transport, energy, and military arms production. Instead, key European interventions take the shape of the imposition of antitrust policy, regulatory standards, coordinated trade policy, and supply chain management—and here the EU wields much geo-economic power. It remains to be seen whether Europe’s regulatory clout can help it become an independent global competitor, a junior partner in a transatlantic alliance, or the object of manipulation by China and the United States. This book’s survey is a good starting point to understanding Europe’s current efforts to secure a place in the future global economy.’

• Contents:1 Introduction to EU Industrial Policy in the MultipolarEconomy: past lessons, current challenges and future scenarios 1Jean-Christophe Defraigne, Edoardo Traversa, JanWouters and Dimitri Zurstrassen2 Industrial policy and EU state aid rules 45Edoardo Traversa and Pierre M. Sabbadini3 Industrial policy, competition policy and strategic autonomy 80Pim Jansen and Wouter Devroe4 The international legal framework for industrial policy:World Trade Organization disciplines and rules 122Jan Wouters and Julia Marssola5 EU industrial policy: lessons from the experience of the1960s to the 1990s 159Eric Bussière6 European industrial policy from 2000 to 2020 173Franco Mosconi7 US industrial policy: the not-so-visible hand of the stateand securing the dominance of US prime movers 210Jean-Christophe Defraigne8 China’s industrial policy: the visible hand of the party-stateto catch up by any means necessary 242Jean-Christophe Defraigne9 EU industrial policy in the steel industry: historicalbackground and current challenges 270Dimitri Zurstrassen10 The European automotive industry: a strategic sector insearch of a new industrial policy 304Samuel Klebaner and Sigfrido Ramírez Pérez11 Falling behind and in between the United States and China:can the European Union drive its digital transformationaway from industrial path dependency? 332Patricia Nouveau12 EU defence industrial policy: from market-making tomarket-correcting 382Samuel B. H. Faure13 Conclusion: a European industrial policy for thetwenty-first century 407Riccardo PerissichIndex