Time to Rethink Competitiveness – For People and Planet

Most conversations about Europe’s future — whether on the Green Deal, the New Social Contract, or the Just Transition — are still held within an outdated framework:

Competitiveness.

But what does competitiveness really mean in today’s world?
And more importantly: what is it costing us?

Our competitive thinking is still rooted in capitalism — a model that sees the economy as a race for growth, profit, and market dominance. This logic has shaped not only our markets, but our social contracts, which now focus less on mutual care and more on producing “productive citizens” who can compete.

That means even our “social” policies are often judged by how well they support economic competitiveness — not how well they support health, belonging, or dignity.

And it’s here that things break down:

A competitive social contract undermines the very social part of the contract — and makes it nearly impossible to fulfill the promises of the European Green Deal.

Why?

Because profit and power always come first.
And when climate, justice, or wellbeing threaten those profits, they get sidelined.

So what if we redefined competitiveness altogether?

Let’s reimagine it as:

“The collective capacity to meet human needs within planetary boundaries while building shared wellbeing and ecological resilience.”

Imagine policies that reward:

• Cooperation over domination
• Regeneration over extraction
• Community ownership over corporate scale
• Long-term wellbeing over short-term gain

This is what we might call regenerative competitiveness — not a race to the top, but a shared commitment to a future where all can thrive.

Europe has a choice:

➤ Double down on extractive competition — and watch both society and the planet fragment further.
Or
➤ Lead the world in developing a post-competitive, collaborative social contract — where the Green Deal and the New Social Contract support each other, not compete.

Let’s stop asking how to stay ahead, and start asking:
“How do we live well, together, within our means?”

Govert van Ginkel

This article is written by Govert van Ginkel. Govert specializes in Nonviolent and Effective Communication and is active in this field as a trainer, speaker, coach, and mediator. More information about Govert can be found here. The current training offer can be found here