Priorities are shifting in EU policymaking. As Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign famously put it: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Today, this focus has fully resurfaced in Europe, placing competitiveness as a cornerstone of future prosperity.

This week, we discussed many different social and economic dossiers with Members of the European Parliament in Strasburg. As we know, a significant debate is now unfolding over how to balance competitiveness with environmental, consumer, and social protection.

Trump’s reelection will intensify concerns that stringent regulations might put European industries at a disadvantage compared to less regulated global competitors. More and more industry leaders and governments are calling for a ‘flexibility’ in certain environmental measures.

The work program of the European Commission for 2025, “A Bolder, Simpler, Faster Union”, published this week, places competitiveness and simplification at the heart of the EU agenda. Concrete proposals aim for instance at amending the so-called Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Taxonomy Regulation – both designed to set high environment and human rights standards in supply chains and direct investments to low carbon economic activities.

The push for deregulation meets with strong resistance from many policymakers and civil society groups. “If von der Leyen spends the next five years dismantling what we’ve built in the previous five, we’ll have wasted a decade”, Bas Eickhout, co-leader of the Greens group in the European Parliament, recently told the EUObserver.

Admittedly, the choices will be difficult. Not every rule and administrative burden is needed, and the EU and its Member States are known for high regulatory density, with “two thirds of companies in the EU consider being hindered from investing by excessive regulation”.

On the other hand, the term bureaucracy, albeit almost always used as a pejorative, stands for the implementation, control and oversight over high protection levels – and not least for the application (and hence the rule) of law.

We would betray ourselves, would the path to competitiveness come at the expense of workers and, for instance, lead to less protective employment regulations. Fair working conditions and robust social protections are not obstacles to competitiveness – they are prerequisites for it.

Competitiveness and environmental, consumer, and social protections are not mutually exclusive, they can be mutually reinforcing. Investing in sustainable practices and ensuring fair working conditions can drive innovation, enhance productivity, and create a resilient economy.  This is our firm belief.

 Mario Draghi’s report on the future of EU competitiveness provides a stark analysis in this sense: Europe must act decisively to maintain its economic edge. But as Draghi points out, competitiveness cannot be built on a foundation of inequality or insecurity. Workers are Europe’s greatest asset, and investing in them – through training, protection, and fair conditions – is essential for sustainable growth.

As an example, the Commission has now laid a special focus on the battered automotive sector, where it has initiated a Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Automotive Industry. While the emphasis is on economic competitiveness, for us the process must also be about safeguarding quality jobs in the sector.

“It’s the economy, stupid”. But not at the expense of fairness. Competitiveness is vital, but it must serve all Europeans — not just a privileged few.