It’s ‘competitiveness’, stupid!

Dear friends,

Many things started with a “no”. “They shall not pass” was a cry against the barbarity and became emblematic during the Spanish Civil War and, after that, of the international resistance to fascism. Recreated over and over in political slogans, but also in the arts, books, films, you name it (Gandalf, anyone?). In order to explain what we are saying no to, first a little background.

Today, we are constantly bombarded with information, news, status updates and polemics. It can become hard to navigate the ins and outs of policy measures, who is responsible for what and why we should care.

But the thing is, European-level decision-making matters and it has consequences for our daily lives. Next week, a new Commission will take office. They have announced that their main task is to reduce the ‘regulatory burden’, ‘cut red tape’, and remove ‘obsolete’ rules and laws, all in the name of ‘competitiveness’. To some, that may sound appealing. After all, who wants meaningless bureaucracy? 

Unfortunately, what they are gearing up for is much more than that. This single-minded deregulatory quest will hack away at public interest rules that corporations decide are too ‘inhibiting’. That could mean sweeping attacks on climate policies, on data privacy, on social rights, while we see endless measures to keep the fossil fuel industry running, and risky liberalisation of financial markets, to name but a few. 

Unsurprisingly, several concerted corporate lobby campaigns have their heavy fingerprints all over the EU's ‘competitiveness’ drive. And this is where we come in. What we have found is a daunting collection of initiatives the new Commission will take – described in the “guidelines” for the new Commission written by its President Ursula von der Leyen, the “mission letters” she wrote to all Commissioners about their tasks, and the new Commissioners’ replies to questions from the European Parliament. 

All this gives us some clear indications about where the EU is heading, and we know our reply will be a loud “no”. Saying “it’s competitiveness, stupid!” cannot mean social rights will be jeopardised and environmental protections will be slashed, and we are here to expose and say no to all these shenanigans. And this is also where you can also help us. Support us, and our work, and follow us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Instagram, share our content with your friends!

In solidarity,

Marcella, Belén, Kees, Bram, Karin, Vicky, Joana, Kat, Olivier, Pascoe, Kenneth, Hans and Rik