Hidden Treasures (I)

This Report, a joint effort between Donald Kalff and a group of CEPS researchers led by Andrea Renda, aims at uncovering and exploring a number of “hidden treasures”, competitive advantages often covered by dust that could, if adequately nurtured, bring back the Old Continent at the forefront of the global order. In our approach a “hidden treasure” must meet specific characteristics: in particular, it should be a feature of the economy, legal system or legal tradition of the EU or a subset of its Member States, which was (or is being) given insufficient attention in public policy, and which bears the potential to increase Europeʼs competitiveness and overall positioning in the global context. Uncovering and promoting hidden treasures becomes, as of today, a timely and highly needed exercise, as the EU approaches elections, and the global governance contexts seems to be rapidly changing, shaping a new playing field in which the EU has no obvious allies, and is increasingly challenged by superpowers with different priorities.