Connecting EU: can Europe remain social and sustainable without being competitive?

This fundamental question was at the heart of the roundtable of the EESC Connecting EU seminar on "Made in the EU: competitive, social and sustainable" held in Sofia on 6 July 2026. The discussion highlighted a simple but often overlooked reality: Europe's economic strength, social cohesion and environmental ambitions are deeply interconnected.

As Europe's social model does depend on Europe's productive capacity, the "Made in the EU" strategy must be a clear political choice to keep investment, production, jobs and value creation in Europe. Companies must be able to invest and scale in Europe if we want to maintain quality jobs, finance social protection and deliver on the green transition. 

As the EESC Employers' Group President Sandra Parthie underlined, achieving this requires the right framework conditions. Businesses need access to affordable and reliable energy, modern transport and digital infrastructure, efficient telecommunications networks, faster permitting procedures and a genuinely integrated Single Market. At a time when companies face intense competition from global partners, Europe must ensure that its regulatory and investment environment encourages entrepreneurship, innovation and industrial production rather than driving them elsewhere. 

The debate also underlined the growing challenge of industrial relocation. As investment and manufacturing increasingly move outside Europe, the EU risks losing not only production capacity but also jobs, skills, research, technological leadership and strategic autonomy. When businesses leave, entire value chains often follow. This weakens regional economies, reduces opportunities for workers and makes Europe more dependent on external suppliers for critical goods and technologies. In addition, without profitable and innovative companies creating value, there is little to redistribute and little capacity to finance social progress.

This is why competitiveness and sustainability are not opposing goals, but mutually reinforcing pillars of a sustainable and modern European economy. This means that Europe does not need to choose between competitiveness and its social and environmental ambitions. Rather, competitiveness is what makes those ambitions achievable. A credible "Made in the EU" strategy should therefore support strategic production, innovation and investment while maintaining Europe's high standards and values.

Europe's future prosperity will depend on its ability to create the conditions for businesses to succeed, workers to thrive and sustainable growth to flourish. A stronger, more competitive Europe is not an alternative to Social Europe, it is its precondition.