A Post-Neoliberal European Order? Public Purpose and Private Accumulation in Green Industrial Policy

In this seminar, jointly organised by the EU Law Discussion Group and the Screening for Sustainability Seminar Series, Ioannis Kampourakis (Erasmus University, Rotterdam) will be presenting his article forthcoming in the Modern Law Review. This article examines the emerging legal rationalities of EU's green industrial policy, questioning if they represent a departure from the neoliberal paradigm that prioritised safeguarding the competitive order. He argues that the European Green Industrial Plan signals a new role for law in the orchestration and balancing of public purpose and private accumulation. This shift can be understood through a dual thesis of 'market instrumentalism' and 'political capitalism'. Market instrumentalism denotes the emergence of a regulatory regime that casts off its agnosticism about value, seeking instead to shape markets in alignment with politically determined objectives. Political capitalism captures how public power politicises private accumulation, particularly through strategies of derisking that ensure private profitability while socialising investment risks. These two theses provide a framework to assess whether and to what extent elements of a post-neoliberal European order are emerging. On the one hand, the turn to market instrumentalism promises a demystification of markets, which are relegated from ends to means. On the other hand, the politicization of private accumulation constrains market instrumentalism by setting the preservation of private profitability as its condition. The article concludes with a reflection on how the space opened by green industrial policy could be harnessed to democratise the political economy of the green transition.

The seminar starts at 12.15, respecting an academic quarter, and involves 20-30 minutes of presentation, followed by 15-30 minutes of discussion. For those interesting in attending outside the Faculty of Law, please register your participation with euldiscussiongroup [at] jur [dot] lu [dot] se (euldiscussiongroup[at]jur[dot]lu[dot]se)

The EU Law Discussion Group is kindly supported by the Lund University Centre for European Studies. 

The Screening for Sustainability seminar series is funded by the Centre for European Studies at Lund University, Formas and the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.