EU’s outgoing chief economist: ‘It is not the role of politicians to create successful companies’
During his stint as the European Commission’s chief competition economist, Pierre Régibeau watched – and strongly opposed – efforts by France and Germany to weaken the EU’s competition rules and open the subsidy floodgates to European industry. Régibeau says the EU’s control over state aid should be fully restored following the exemptions made during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine: ‘Governments have a bad track record when it comes to creating successful companies.’