Industrial Policy As The European Union Competitiveness Factor On The Global Market

The union of the most developed European countries and their heavy industry based economies after the World War II, seemed like the only answer to USA’s and Japan’s powerful economies. At the same time, it was the only chance for Europe to become competitive in the global market. That was achieved through various forms of economic communities, formed in Europe in the second half of XX century. Since the 1992. Maastricht Treaty, they are known as the European Union. European Union industrial policy had the same priorities since the very beginning – to make Europe the leader of global economy, through investments in knowledge and high-tech inovation. However, that still hasn’t happened and considering all the economical and political crisis shaking the Union lately, chances are it can hardly happen at all. Reasons are numerous and different, both inside and outside the Union. The implicit question being posed here is have the most developed world countries and their economies reached their peak and can the EU achieve further growth on the supersaturated global market? This paper investigates the role of industrial policy as one of the key factors for solution to many problems in the past as well as in the future of the EU, which would make this economic and political community of European countries much more competitive on the global market.