The competitiveness of countries and that of firms are different concepts. EU GDP is stable at two-thirds of the US, but productivity growth has lagged since the 1990s. The EU does better on wealth equality and clean-tech export shares. The EU faces two supply-side disadvantages: high energy...

Only by decarbonizing its economy and reducing energy and raw-material dependencies can the EU safeguard its competitiveness in the global markets. Postponing policies to decarbonize the energy system will increase long-run welfare losses. Decarbonization offers great potential for improving...