Whitepaper: Sustainable by Design - Industrial Policy for Long-Term Competitiveness in the EU

To make Europe’s economy more competitive and sustainable at the same time, we call for a new industrial policy for ‘sustainable by design’ organizations in order to reap the competitive benefits of ownership forms that favor reinvestment, innovation and resilience.

There is broad agreement that Europe needs to create an industrial policy for a more sustainable and competitive economy. Even if the EU aims at an “economy that works for people” – an economy that is resilient, inclusive, fair, sustainable and innovative – it has so far failed to unlock the competitive potential of sustainable ownership forms that favor innovation and reinvestment. Europe needs to build a competitive edge on its long tradition of more sustainable ownership forms - e.g. cooperatives, enterprise foundations, social economy enterprises - which foster innovation, reinvestment and resilience, and ensure prosperity even in the times of economic crises. Yet, many of these entities constantly have to swim upstream: unlike ‘mainstream’ enterprises, they do not enjoy ready-made enterprise forms, or easy access to public and private financing. In order to reap the competitive benefits of ownership forms that favor reinvestment, innovation and resilience, we call for a new industrial policy for a sustainable economy.

This whitepaper is edited by Marija Bartl (University of Amsterdam), Nena van der Horst (University of Amsterdam) and Rutger Claassen (Utrecht University). It contains contributions from a wide range of European specialists in academia, company leadership and policy-making and is the outcome of a joint conference on ‘Transforming Ownership in Times of Overlapping Crisis’, held in Amsterdam on October 5-6, 2023.