As part of the Third Dynamic Competition Initiative (DCI) Conference, a panel discussion with Bowman Heiden, Lorenzo Allio, Miguel Poiares Maduro, and Branislav Turcina examined the relationship between European regulation and innovation, with attention to the Draghi report and the Constitution of Innovation (CoI).
A central insight was that the problem is not the quantity of regulation but its quality and design: "not about doing less but understanding more." Panelists indicated Europe's dilemma was starkly framed: regulation is effectively its only tool, given its minimal budget, and even that tool is poorly wielded.
High-profile reform proposals were critically examined. The 28th regime raises an enforcement question: neither the EU administration nor national administrations are currently equipped to monitor compliance uniformly. Sunset clauses may create more uncertainty than the regulatory burden they aim to reduce, since expiry raises the question of which status quo applies.
Another point of view argued that political uncertainty can be as harmful as regulatory burden, and that EU rules are often not the obstacle they are portrayed to be. Concrete reform proposals were tabled, including abandoning directives in favor of regulations, specialized commercial courts, automatic field pre-emption, and review clauses.
A closing comment indicated Europe would benefit from pivoting from an over-emphasis on political integration towards economic integration.
Watch the full panel video on YouTube.