Europeans agree: global competitiveness is an issue and must be strengthened
Europe is coming under growing pressure to reinforce its position in an increasingly competitive global economy, according to new research from Boston Consulting Group. Concerns are widespread – both business leaders and citizens are concerned about the continent’s long-term competitiveness.
“Europe can no longer afford to debate whether it has a competitiveness problem,” says Matthias Tauber, global managing partner of Boston Consulting Group (BCG). “The question now is how quickly and how decisively we are prepared to act, and how far we are willing to go to secure Europe’s future prosperity.”
This sense of urgency is strongly reflected in public sentiment. Nearly two thirds of European citizens (62%) are pessimistic about Europe’s ability to compete effectively on the global stage. While business leaders are somewhat more optimistic, a significant minority – one in three – still shares these concerns.
According to BCG, this pessimism is driving a clear call for action. More than three quarters of Europeans (76%) believe that Europe must act now, warning that failure to do so could leave the continent permanently trailing behind major global powers such as China and the United States.
There is also a strong perception that Europe has been too naïve in its approach to global trade. Four in five citizens (81%) hold this view, a sentiment echoed even more forcefully among the European business community, where 94% of executives agree that Europe needs a more robust and realistic stance.
Trade tariffs
Events in early April 2025 brought these issues into sharp focus. On 2 April, US President Donald Trump unveiled a new set of trade tariffs affecting a wide range of countries, including several European nations. In the immediate aftermath, optimism among European business leaders surged, with confidence in Europe’s competitive position jumping from 43% to 80%.
Those developments underscored the belief that European unity could be a powerful counterweight in an increasingly fragmented global trading system.
Yet BCG’s research suggests that this momentum was short-lived. Since early April last year, optimism has ebbed once more, with just 67% of business leaders now expressing confidence in Europe’s international competitiveness. As BCG observes, the initial surge in confidence was never fully converted into sustained collective action, leading some leaders to lose faith.
EU-wide collaboration
The survey found that there is clear support for deeper European cooperation. Nearly two thirds of business leaders (64%) favour stronger European integration, including an expansion of EU powers, a view shared by 61% of European citizens.
While a minority argue either for maintaining the status quo or for greater national autonomy, the overall picture points to a broad-based recognition that Europe’s competitiveness challenge can only be addressed through closer collaboration and coordinated action at a European level.
Boston Consulting Group’s study canvassed the views of more than 850 business leaders and approximately 6,400 citizens across Europe.
