Unpacking the European clean industrial agenda
EU Watchdog Radio
Corporate Europe Observatory and Counter Balance
3.0 • 2 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
While negotiations for the next EU budget are underway, the European Commission’s plan to set up the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) as the main vehicle to achieve its clean industrial agenda. In today’s episode Marilisa Marigliano talks with Angela Wigger and Rodrigo Fernandez to debunk the InvestEU program, which is set to be the cornerstone of the ECF, raising urgent questions about who benefits, an who actually decides the direction of Europe’s green transition. They expose the power relations and governance flaws that open the door for distortions in achieving a truly just transition in European industry. Are there alternatives to the current industrial policy? What would a transformative agenda look like?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome. I'm Isabella Franco, communication assistant at Counterbalance. |
| 0:06.0 | In today's episode, Mariglisa Margielno, policy officer at Counterbalance, will talk with Angela Wigger, |
| 0:13.0 | an associate professor at the University of Houndbaud. She hosts classes in global political economy and on the capitalism political economy. |
| 0:23.7 | Marie Lisa will also talk with Rodrigo Fernandius, a self-employed researcher and a political |
| 0:29.7 | economist with over 20 years of experience at working at NGOs and several universities |
| 0:36.8 | with a specialization in offshore finance and corporate |
| 0:41.7 | financialization. Together, they explore a concept that it's becoming increasingly important |
| 0:47.7 | in European policy discussion, derisking. But what does it actually means? In simple terms, it's when public money is used to reduce the financial risks for private investors, |
| 1:01.0 | for example, through guarantees, loans or other financial tools. As the negotiations on the European Union's next long-term budget move forward, the proposed |
| 1:13.1 | European Competitiveness Fund is expected to expand the use of these de-risky instruments. |
| 1:21.0 | But what does that really mean in practice? |
| 1:23.9 | Who benefits? |
| 1:24.9 | Who takes the risks? |
| 1:27.4 | And how this might shape the future of public investments in Europe. |
| 1:32.5 | That's exactly what we will unpack in today's episode. |
| 1:36.7 | So let's get into it. |
| 1:38.5 | Okay. You're on the move. You're listening to EU |
| 1:45.0 | Hello Thank you for Thank you for finding time to be with us today. EU Watchdog Radio. Hello, Angela, hello Rodrigo. |
| 2:01.6 | Thank you for finding time to be with us today. |
| 2:04.6 | So I would like to start a conversation by addressing one of the summits that have been taking |
| 2:09.6 | place in this month of February, which is the third European Industry Summit, which gathered major European leaders from both European Commission and member states, |
| 2:23.3 | alongside European business leaders. |
... |
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