Europe: what policies for sustainable competitiveness?
In October 2025, an IDDRI report on new industrial policies compared approaches across ten countries (Germany, China, South Korea, Spain, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Poland and Sweden) and within the EU. It assessed their potential in terms of sustainability and their capacity to drive transformation of the global economy, and identified pathways for Europe to develop a model suited to its strengths and specific characteristics, alongside a set of recommendations to support the success of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal. IDDRI is also continuing its analysis of the instruments for implementing this Deal, in particular through an examination of the European Competitiveness Fund, presented by the Commission in July as part of its 2028–2034 budget proposal.
Furthermore, as sustainable competitiveness depends on the effectiveness of environmental policies rather than deregulation, IDDRI draws on its expertise in European legislative and budgetary processes to analyse the Omnibus simplification packages and propose ways to simplify without weakening regulatory standards. This work has been presented in both Paris and Brussels to DG GROW (Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), the Commission’s Secretariat-General, and the European Parliament.
Transformation of the energy sector
While France was slow to revise its multi-year energy plan (PPE3), in 2025 IDDRI championed electrification as a key driver of the political agenda for decarbonizing the energy system, and as a framework for overcoming polarization around the energy mix. The task force on the electricity transition, set up by IDDRI in 2022 and comprising around 60 experts and government representatives, met four times in 2025. As energy choices have to be made following the war in Iran, France incorporated an electrification plan into its PPE3, announced in April 2026, while the EU is expected to present its own in July 2026. More specifically, IDDRI has established itself as a key centre of expertise on electricity prices for industry and has organized discussions on this issue in Paris, Berlin and Brussels.
As the European Commission prepares a new “networks package”, IDDRI is working with a network of European think tanks on the economic benefits of more integrated energy infrastructure planning in Europe. This consortium published a report and engaged with the Commission in September. A public event was organized in Brussels in March 2026.
Agriculture: key approaches to minimizing strategic dependencies
In the context of a growing number of crises affecting the agricultural sector (health, economic, climate-related, etc.), their cost to national budgets and the strategic dependencies they reveal, IDDRI is contributing to discussions on the 2028–2034 European budget, advocating for the introduction of a mechanism for upstream risk assessment and mitigation, alongside improved downstream responses when crises occur. This work will be presented in Paris, Brussels and other European capitals in 2026.
To support the evolution of the agricultural model, IDDRI is also focusing on two intermediary levels between farmers and consumers: agri-food industries, and how they can support the diversification and circularity of European agriculture; and the retail sector, and its role in shaping diets. In France, following sustained dialogue between civil society organizations, IDDRI and public authorities, major retailers appear ready to commit to transforming food environments and facilitating the choice of healthy and sustainable diets.