As the Brussels Economic Forum marks its 25th year on Thursday, May 22nd, the REAL project, in which the European Environmental Bureau is a partner, emphasises that this milestone provides a critical opportunity for the EU to fundamentally rethink its economic approach.

For a quarter of a century, the Brussels Economic Forum has served as the European Commission’s flagship annual economic event, convening high-level European and international policymakers, academics, civil society, and business leaders to address key challenges and establish policy priorities.

The European project stands at a critical juncture. It faces a choice between fundamentally reforming its economic model and risking further fragmentation and collapse.

It is deeply concerning that, while poverty levels across Europe are at a record high and several planetary thresholds are being dangerously breached, Europe is prioritising militarisation as a path to maintain peace and security on the continent. The 800 billion euros ReArm Europe’s programme, hailed as “the only way we can ensure peace”, is justified under the guise of boosting Europe’s competitiveness, industrial capacity and its strategic autonomy goals. This programme, alongside Europe’s competitiveness and clean industrial agenda, aims to respond to the new geopolitical shifts and maintain Europe’s hegemony by prioritising high-growth technologies and mobilising public resources to de-risk private capital.

In light of this, the REAL project, together with prominent economists, NGOs, and trade unions, expresses deep concern at the exceptional breaking of EU budgetary constraints for military purposes. We urgently call on European leaders to immediately revisit these fiscal rules and question the Commission’s path to re-armament as an economically sound and secure strategy.

Europe’s current economic and climate instability represent the greatest security threats we face. Furthermore, the cost of living crisis is European’s top priority concern. To address these effectively, Europe needs an ambitious public spending programme to strengthen our social and green infrastructures and services and provide decent and sustainable jobs for all. Taxing wealth and corporate profit must go hand in hand with adapting European monetary policy for the challenges of the 21st Century. Last but not least, strategies of multilateralism and peace-building must be chosen over trade wars and unequal exchanges with third countries. Military escalation offers no path towards Europe’s safety nor economic stability; economic redistribution and cooperation are our safest bets.

“The EU’s current economic path is a dead end and will fail both people and planet. To build a brighter future where people can participate in the most important collective projects, we need public investment, public services, rapid decarbonisation, and job guarantees. This future also requires the EU to prioritise cooperation over militarisation.” – Jason Hickel, Principal Investigator of the REAL Project

“Europe can’t afford to unlock fiscal space only for defence spending. We live in an era of polycrisis. which are deeply intertwined, making it ineffective to address them in isolation. Public spending is essential to address those and close the green and social funding gap. Establishing an EU funded Investment Facility, with effective social and environmental conditionalities coupled with EU own resources (e.g. wealth tax) is key to help bridge the public investment gap necessary to make our economy sustainable, climate-proof, and thriving for people and workers.” – Katy Wiese, Policy Manager for Economic Transition and Gender Equality at the European Environmental Bureau

ENDS 

About the REAL Project

The REAL project, in which the European Environmental Bureau is part of is a European Research Council (ERC) Synergy project led by Professors Julia Steinberger (UNIL Lausanne), Jason Hickel and Giorgos Kallis (UAB Barcelona) providing scientifically rigorous pathways for societal transformation toward a post-growth economy.