Toward a post-growth industrial policy for Europe: navigating emerging tensions and long-term goals

Abstract

Amid mounting geopolitical, socio-economic, and ecological crises, industrial policy has returned to the forefront of policy debates. However, the EU’s industrial policy framework–centred on Single Market Resilience, Strategic Autonomy, and Competitive Sustainability–contains self-undermining contradictions. While aiming for resilience, it fails to strengthen foundational non-market institutions; in seeking strategic autonomy, it exacerbates resource dependencies and eco-imperialist tensions; and in promoting competitive sustainability, it remains reliant on profit-driven private sector strategies that delay necessary transitions. This article critically examines these contradictions using immanent critique and conjunctural analysis, proposing an alternative post-growth framework based on Foundational Liveability, Peaceful Planetary Co-Existence, and Democratically Coordinated Sustainability. To bridge the gap between current constraints and transformative change, we use critical problem-solving to outline contested but feasible next best transition steps within the current politico-economic order. By integrating post-growth insights into industrial policy, this article offers a roadmap for aligning economic activity with planetary boundaries and social well-being.