Competitiveness, Theoretical and Policy Approaches. Towards a More Competitive EU

Competitiveness is clearly one of the most frequently used concepts in current economic policies, in the regional or national policy frameworks and strategies, in businesses, especially when they discuss about growth or convergence, when strategies or comparative analysis are designed. Indeed, there are different theories around competitiveness, different approaches by policy makers and various targets are projected, both at micro and macro levels. Going thoroughly within policies and literature, it can be admitted that competitiveness is still vague, ambiguous, but wrapped up in ingenuity. There are still many open questions related to the definition of competitiveness, competitiveness factors, the applicability and the practical approaches to foster competitiveness. Is competitiveness just an entrepreneurial skill to sell or could be a premise of development? This paper tries to bring together the EU's approaches and myths about competitiveness and to contribute to a fair scientific debate on international competitiveness.