European Growth and Competitiveness

McKinsey & Company is collaborating with the World Economic Forum to explore how Europe can strengthen its competitiveness in the age of intelligent technologies. Building on nearly a decade of research and high-level dialogues, this collaboration examines the investment and innovation gaps that threaten Europe’s long-term prosperity, the strategic areas where Europe can lead, and the actions needed to ensure sustainable growth. Closing these gaps could unlock between €2 trillion and €4 trillion in annual GDP by 2040—an amount greater than Europe’s current combined spending on net zero, defense, and healthcare.

Europe has recognized the imperative. An effective path forward would be twofold: advancing broad-scale regulatory reform to drive entrepreneurship, unleash scale-up capital, and secure talent, while also accelerating specific near-term projects (‘lighthouse initiatives’) through targeted support. Together, these actions can help Europe compete successfully in critical technology domains such as (industrial) AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, advanced robotics, bio- & med-tech, energy technologies, and others. These insights are paving the way for broader European collaboration through the World Economic Forum’s platform, uniting leaders across public and private sectors to move from ideas to action in building a more competitive, resilient, and innovative Europe.