PhD thesis defence by Luuk Schmitz
The fate of European integration hinges on the governance of its industries. In the 1980s, market- oriented regulation became dominant, aiming for competitiveness and efficiency through open markets. However, a series of highly visible interventions in markets reveal a shift in the EU’s stance against industrial policy. The dissertation argues that geopolitics and climate change have exposed the limits of a market making Europe, leading to a greater role for the state in correcting and directing markets, vested at the European level. Similar to the 1980s, the fear of industrial decline and the actions of national executives, business leaders, and EU bureaucrats are driving this change.
The thesis captures the shift to an EU-level, market-directing industrial policy in both discourse and policy. Notions of strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty have rallied a coalition of neo-mercantilist and socially oriented actors in favour of a more interventionist industrial policy. In terms of policies, the thesis focuses on the green and digital transitions, showcasing the launch of industrial alliances and the reorientation of state aid rules as ways to overcome the limited fiscal and bureaucratic capacities at the EU level. The thesis also emphasises the need for destruction alongside creation in the green transition, explaining the move away from a market- only emission-trading system. The thesis documents political conflict between EU Commission DGs, member states, and policy domains. Finally, the thesis shows that at the member state level, the reorientation of Germany to EU-level industrial policy since 2016 has been the driving force for many initiatives.
Overall, the dissertation calls for a reassessment of global political economy dynamics in EU integration studies, the integration of business power and industrial policy perspectives, and a deeper understanding of the shift in EU economic governance towards market-correcting and market-directing policies.
Luuk Schmitz is a political economist researching structural changes in European political economy. His areas of focus are trade policy, industrial policy, and the green transition. He is interested in the way (changing) narratives about the future affect the politics of EU integration and the policies of economic institutions, as well as the nexus between the two. He currently works as a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Society. Prior to joining the European University Institute, he obtained an MSc and BSc in political science from Radboud University, Nijmegen. He also worked as a junior lecturer in political science and economics at the same institution.